No Need for Nerima
by Lawra
Summary: Genma tells Ranma about the engagement a day earlier, he also misses with the road sign. Fleeing, Ranma turns up looking for shelter and hot water just as Tenchi is being attacked by Ryoko on top of his school.
1. No Need for Aliens

-Updated to reflect the distance between Nerima and Okayama.

X X X X X X - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

The setting is going to be mainly in the Tenchi world with the Nerima/China contingent showing up if they would have reason to track down Ranma. For the Tenchi scene it will be an amalgam of the original and Tenchi Universe but the story line erring on the side of TU. The problem being that the Tenchi crew is rather rangy in where they are in the galaxy. Hence why the Nerima crew will be a smaller part that is easily pushed to the side.

I'm not going to say what has changed in the two stories till it comes up. Similar to how i've been in my other fic "A Mistake in Sealing" where I do not come right out and explain everything.

My use of pronouns will be based off what gender Ranma is currently in. But when others or Ranma refer to himself it will usually be in the male unless there is a reason for it to be otherwise. (Such as someone not knowing about said curse.) I'm going to try and write with Ranma's casual way of speaking but if I don't, i'm sorry.

I'm going to try and shift between more characters perspectives than i've done in my other story. Sorry if it gets confusing but i'll try and make it obvious when it happens.

A small note about Ranma when he is crouching outside of combat. When he does it means that he crouches like a cat or dog, with his hands planted on the ground between his feet. Anime Ranma doesn't really do this but it's almost a universal constant with manga Ranma which is what i'm trying to base his character off of.

X X X X X X

"Stupid Oyaji!" A girl with bright red hair yelled as she ran across the top of a chain link fence. The few people out in the rain looked up amazed as she ran along the slick narrow surface. Many of the males lingered their gaze a bit longer as the silk chinese shirt and black pants clung to her body.

"Who the hell does he think he is!" Dropping to the ground as the fence ended Ranma continued till the next alley before ducking into it. "Picking my fiancee like that, stupid panda, i'll sell him to a zoo, i'll have him made into a rug."

She had finally lost her father after hitting him with a sign post. The idiot had tried to hit her with it. 'Heh yea right like he could pull that over on me.' It was shirking her duty and being dishonorable but this was no time for a fiancee. Once she went back to China and got rid of this curse she could face the music then. 'Besides he didn't mention that I had to do it right now. Well at least I know why the old panda wanted to get back to Japan so fast. Wonder what scam he's got going with his old training buddy.'

Stopping at the end of the alley she looked both ways. It was getting dark, luckily the rain had stopped, she really just wanted to find some place dry and some hot water. 'A change of clothes would be nice but I dropped my pack while fighting Oyaji and no way am I going back now that I got away.' Her shoulders slumped as she suddenly remembered she had absolutely no money. 'I'm broke, no supplies, and worst of all i'm female. Next time I see Oyaji he's getting the beating of his lifetime.'

"Hmm a high school?" Looking up at the three story building she decided it was as good a place as any. They probably had showers so she'd even be able to change back. Hopping the fence was easy and she was nearly at the door when a noise caught her attention.

"What the?" She looked up as several explosions came from the roof. Bright red light flared before each one. "Maybe this isn't the best place to get some hot water." She frowned when the light show stopped. Sighing in defeat she found the door unlocked. 'Might as well go find out if someone needs help.' She didn't get any farther as half the building suddenly exploded.

"Ite." She groaned and sat up, the explosion having sent her through a fence and out on to a basketball court.

"Are you alright." She blinked at a male voice approached her. Looking up she found an average looking boy about her age holding a bookbag and a panicked but concerned expression.

"Yea i'm fine, had worse from Oyaji." Rubbing the back of her head at the small lump that had formed.

"Hurry we gotta get out of here." Standing she looked at the boy who was in full on panic mode. Sure there was an explosion but this guy looked like some monster was after him.

"Huh why are you so worried did you blow up the building?"

"No there's this woman she's."

"Tenchi!" They both turned to look at a cyan haired woman with matching pale green and pink clothing standing with her hands on her hips. The woman's predatory yellow eyes looked between them then focused on the boy next to her.

"Don't worry it'll be over so fast that you won't feel a thing." She raised her right hand and a red ball of something formed in front of it. Suddenly she grasped it and it shot out into a sword of red light. Ranma gaped, 10 years of training in the martial arts and she had never seen anything like that. "I'll deal with that little girl after you!"

She did however act on instinct when the woman shot forward at high speed and attempted to swipe at the boy next to her. Lashing out with a kick she caught the woman's wrist and momentarily connected with a jewel on it. It pulsed once and was kicked out of it's position to fly up into the air.

"Who ya calling little girl?!" She yelled and stood between the pair as the woman backed away. Still in mid air the jewel suddenly exploded. "Wha the hell?" She stared in shock at the large explosion.

"Oh poo, I lost again, I just have the worst luck." The woman suddenly bowed dramatically. "Farewell." More gaping from Ranma as she watched the woman literally drop into the ground. Rushing over she patted down where the woman had sunk into, finding the ground completely solid.

"Thank you, a miss?" Turning she found the guy had given her a small bow.

"Um, i'm Saotome Ranma." She returned it.

"I'm Masaki Tenchi, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't stepped in, that was really great, the only other person I know who moves that fast is my Jiichan."

"So who was that?" She jerked her thumb backwards indicating where the crazy woman had been.

"She said her name was Ryoko, I think she was the demon sealed at my families shrine." Before he could continue another explosion rocked the school sending the pair crashing to the ground with Tenchi on top of her. Regaining her senses from the explosion she opened her eyes to find the blushing face of Tenchi. Blinking a few times she looked down and found a hand squeezing her right breast.

"Ah sorry sorry sorry." He sputtered and jumped off of her. She frowned at him but stood up.

"Meh, it was an accident, i'll just be on my way." Turning she started to walk away. It wouldn't do to stay too long now that the sirens of firetrucks were coming. It would draw attention and possibly her Oyaji.

"Wa wait, do you live around here?"

"Nah i'm just passing through." She continued walking as he ran up to walk beside her.

"So you don't have a place to stay?"

"Nope, i've lived on the road for my entire life."

"Well you could stay at my place for the night."

"Your place?" She looked quizzically at him imagining some tiny one bedroom apartment.

"Yea, I just live with my dad. But we have a really big house, it'd be no problem at all."

"Sure why not." She shrugged and ignored his eyes as they fell to her chest for a moment. 'Soon as I dry off and get some hot water i'll leave.'

"That's great, my house is this way."

"Now that we aren't going to be blown up again who was that lady?" The girl had been using some kind of very powerful technique and that going through the ground would be incredibly useful if it could be used in a fight.

"Well she said her name was Ryoko, I kinda accidently free'd her while I was at my families shrine in the mountains. I guess she followed me back home. Said she wanted revenge for my ancestor who sealed her in a cave 700 years ago." She mulled this over, her face contorted in what would be seen as a cute pout. 'Well she didn't seem that strong but if she comes back I bet I can take her.'

"This is it." She looked up at the large three story house that sat on a large plot of land. This was the first time being back in Japan for a long time but she at least understood that land was expensive and this guys dad must have an excellent job to be able to afford it.

"Wow you weren't kidding, you guys rich or something?"

"This land has been in our family for a long time, along with the shrine and surrounding farm, which is huge. Actually now that you mention it, we must have some kind of large financial backing for our family. I never thought about it before. Strange since my dad works constantly." Stopping in the doorway they deposited their shoes and Tenchi his bag.

"You can take a bath if you want." Tenchi walked down the hall and at the bottom of the steps slid open a door revealing a changing area.

"Uh sure." She went to go take off her shirt when she noticed Tenchi sputter and turn away. Looking down she suddenly remembered that she was a she and that she didn't have any dry clothes. "Um you don't happen to have something I could wear do you? I kinda lost all my stuff earlier." She didn't really care if he saw her body, it was just a curse after all.

"Sure sure, that is if you don't mind some of my clothes. I'll go get some." He took off out the door and she decided to wait and see what he'd bring. It wasn't long he returned with a simple tshirt and pair of shorts. "Sorry I don't really have anything you can wear for underneath."

"Uh heh heh that's alright, this'll work."

"Take as long as you want, I'm gonna go tell my dad you're staying the night." Letting out a breath as Tenchi left she held up the shirt. They looked to be a few years old but would fit her form fine. This caused a frown as it would fit 'HER' form, if she changed back the shirt would be too tight while the shorts far too small. 'I could ask for some bigger ones but then i'd have to explain the curse. Guess i'll have to remain like this for the night. It'll save the embarrassment of explaining the curse at least.'

X X X X X X

"Hey dad, how was work?"

"Ah Tenchi, mah it was long and boring! So what brings you back later than me?" Nobuyuki glanced up from his paper.

"Heh heh, well I had some trouble at school."

"Yes school." The tv was quickly turned on showing firefighters currently dousing down a still burning school. "Did my wonderful son have a hand in that?"

"No no, I was just hanging out after school trying to do some homework. I left a little before that happened." Quickly Tenchi thought of some way to distract his dad. "But I did meet someone there."

"Meet someone?"

"Yea she's this girl, she was helping me earier."

"A girl you say?" Tenchi smiled nervously as his father who was suddenly on his feet and smiling pervertedly.

"I was wondering if she could stay the night. She's traveling alone and didn't have a place to stay." The full on perverted smile that his father had gave him the impression that he may just have to spend time keeping the man away from her. It wouldn't do to have her think he was as perverted as his dad.

"So my son has finally got a girlfriend?"

"No no it's nothing like that." He waved his hands in a warding gesture as his father grabbed him in a hug.

"Oh my little boy has finally become a man. Achika I wish you could see your son now."

"Come on dad, she's just staying the night." He groaned as his father went into full on water works. Prying his fathers arms off of him he left to go change himself and met with Ranma standing in the doorway. She was toweling off her hair and was wearing his old clothes. He gulped at the way his shirt was pulled tightly across her chest. The rest was loose but did nothing to hide her beautiful figure.

"Uh hi, i'm Ranma, sorry bout troubling you guys." Ranma said and waved to who she thought was Tenchi's father. She smiled to hide her frown as the two male eyes lingered a bit too long on her chest. The only way to stop it would be to change back, and the embarrassment from guys checking her out was far less than the looks she got when people knew about the curse.

"Good evening Ranma, it's no problem what so ever, stay as long as you need." Tenchi blinked at the calm which his dad was handling this. A far cry from how he'd been about to plan marriage a minute ago. 'Probably planning something. Oh man he's going to do something and Ranma will think i'm a pervert.'

"Thanks Masaki-san for letting me stay, and um thanks for the clothes Tenchi." Tenchi gulped as the girl fidgeted for a moment with the bottom of the shirt. 'Too, too cute.' First Ryoko now Ranma, it was like beautiful women were falling out of the sky and into his lap. Best part being this one wasn't trying to gut him with an energy sword.

"No thanks needed Ranma, here come sit down i'll go get you two some tea." His dad ran off to the kitchen, he noticed the momentary look of worry that flashed across the red head but it was gone in an instant as she sat down on one of the couches that flanked a coffee table. Dropping into the other he realized his dad wasn't really going to bring tea. 'Just some way to get us together, figures.'

"You have a nice house."

"Uh thanks." He really wished his dad was going to get tea.

"I saw a picture of your dad with a woman out in the hall, is that your mom?"

"Yea, she died when I was young." He sighed, he hadn't thought about her in a long time. It hurt less to just push it from his mind. "You didn't really say anything about your parents. Are they?"

"No no, Oyaji is around somewhere trying to marry me off. I don't know where my mom is. Can't remember much before." Ranma seemed to pause looking for a good way to reference something. "Before I was put through a really bad training technique."

"That's too bad. It must be hard."

"It's not too bad. I'd like to know but at the same time not knowing is fine. Ya know what I mean?"

"Yeah, but you said your dad was off trying to marry you. What's he like?" He didn't press for information. If she wanted to tell him she would.

"An idiot, a big fat stupid bald idiot." He was a bit taken back when Ranma's mood darkened and he could swear he saw her hair start to flutter.

"I'm sorry I asked. My dads a bit of a pain but he tries his best."

"So, is it alright if I just sleep here?" Ranma looked around at the couch and bounced a few times causing other parts of her to bounce. He tried, he really did, not to watch. Ranma was obviously in a bad situation and it would be irresponsible for him to even think such thoughts.

"No no you can take my room, i'll pull out a futon. I wouldn't feel right for a guest to sleep on a couch or futon if there is a bed available. Come on i'll show you where it is." She followed him obediently up the steps to the second floor and he slid open his door. "Huh that's weird why's my bed all lumpy?" Standing over it he patted it down and noticed a soft body underneath. 'Oh no, it can't be.'

"Hmm?" He stepped back preparing to run away if it was who he suspected. Ranma's red hair appeared in his vision as she pulled off the covers to expose a slumbering Ryoko. The girls eyes fluttered open and she rolled onto her back exposing most of her impressive bosom when her top opened up.

"Oh welcome home Tenchi." Ryoko turned from him to Ranma. "Red too?"

"Gah!" They both yelled and jumped away. He turned to Ranma and found her doing the same before they looked back at Ryoko who had sat up and smiled pleasantly at them. Sighing in defeat he raised his hands and clapped them twice, praying that she wouldn't destroy his house like the school.

X X X X X X

Two days later, in the world of TOMORROW! Just go with it since otherwise the timeline doesn't work.

"Genma it's great to see you again!" Nabiki frowned at her father who burst into a waterfall of tears as a fat balding man sat down across from them. Two days ago her father had gotten them all together and explained the situation. But no father and son duo had come. They'd went about their lives since then but now her father had received another post card saying his friend would be here today. So here they sat finally meeting their fathers old friend.

"Indeed Soun it has been far too long."

"Tell me where is Ranma? My daughters are anxious to meet him." Nabiki gave a strained smile at her fathers eccentric manner. 'Ranma better be worth my time waiting. I think i'm missing my favorite show too'

"It's horrible Soun, two days ago while moving through Okayama I told the boy about the engagement. He went into a rage and we fought, he then hit me from behind with a road sign and ran off. I looked for him all of yesterday but then I made the trip here alone hoping that he had accepted his duty. Oh why have I been burdened with such a dishonorable son. All the years spent training him and he runs away!"

"This is horrible Genma, how will our houses be joined!?" The pair started to hug and cry bemoaning their fate.

Nabiki's smile instantly faded at the two idiots across from her. Her first thoughts about Genma had instantly told her he was a thief and a bad one at that. Else why would she be able to pick him out so quickly. More over it seemed Ranma wasn't happy about this engagement either. He had also had the fortitude to actually go against it. Family honor was one thing but knowing when to cut your losses and move on was the mark of a good business man, or woman in her case.

Her respect for the boy went up a notch when she remembered where he had been most of his life. '10 years alone with this idiot and he's still smart enough to get while the gettings good? Must get everything from his mother.' Of course the possibility that he was a dumb jock who had just gotten lucky also could be true, but seemed far less likely.

Everything stopped when the pair tripped over the table and spilled Kasumi's glass of ice water over Genma. Who in the span of a couple seconds became a giant panda.

"Oh my."

X X X X X X

The present two days before.

"Ry, Ryoko! Why are you here?" Tenchi got out as he backed away from the demon woman. In the corner of his eyes he saw Ranma standing ready and not backing an inch. 'Is she nuts?'

"I'm hurt Tenchi, I come all this way to see you and you're with another woman?" Ryoko's lower lip started to quiver and her eyes got watery.

"Whatta ya mean with another woman!" Ranma sputtered glaring at Ryoko who just turned off the display in order to look coyly at the redhead.

"So then you two aren't?"

"No of course not, never!" He resisted the urge to cry, a pretty girl saying he had no chance. He didn't have time to dwell on it as Ryoko squealed girlishly and was instantly floating in mid air in front of him before wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing the life out of him.

"More for me then." She purred and he twitched a bit as a finger trace circles on his chest.

"Get off of him." Suddenly Ryoko teleported away as Ranma tried to pry the amorous demon off of him.

"Hmmph, for someone not interested you sure do get in the way enough." Ryoko smirked as she floated over his bed, lounging leisurely in an invisible chair.

"Yea well when some monster woman is attacking someone who can't fight back I have problems doing nothing."

"Mon, ster, woman?" Ryoko asked dangerously a small ball of red starting to form near her right hand. She grasped it and it turned into another sword.

"You're floating, you can go through stuff, you just created that thing, you can jump around the room instantly, and you tried to kill him earlier. I think that is good enough to call someone a monster." Ryoko disappeared again and reappeared behind Ranma with the blade at the girls throat with both of Ranma's arms locked behind her back.

"Good reasons, but what does that make someone who could stop my attack?"

"Ack lemme go!"

"Stop it you two!" He shouted and drew the two females attentions. "Ryoko what do you want? Revenge again?"

"What I want, is your balls."

"WHAT!? You can't have them! I'm using them right now." He stepped back again and held his hands protectively in front of himself.

"NOT THOSE YOU IDIOT! I meant on the sword. There are three gems that I need. Otherwise I can't control Ryo-ohki."

"Who?"

"The other demon in the legend you dunce."

"Yea like i'm going to give them to you now."

"If you don't I cut off little red here's head." Ranma bit back a cry of pain as she was lifted off the ground for a minute by her arms. Soon as she recovered she growled and tried to look back at the person who had her arm locked in a vice grip. In a fight she could take on most anybody but this Ryoko was inhumanly quick and strong. She also didn't know the extent to which she could move through objects. If it meant anything then it would be impossible for her to even hit her opponent.

The sounds of quick footsteps receding caused her to try and find Tenchi who had run out of the room. 'Oh great.' Pulling her right arm free she reached up and gripped the perplexed Ryoko's sword arm.

"You're pretty strong aren't you red." She would have glared at the Ryoko but settled for pulling on the sword arm that slowly started to move from her neck. "Full of surprises, I like you, we should have some fun later."

"Here I got it." Tenchi reappeared holding a sword hilt.

"What's that thing? I thought she wanted a sword." More pressure was applied to her captive arm and she gasped allowing the sword to return next to her neck.

"Ryoko I know you are here come out now!" A voice called out as the outside of the house was suddenly turned into day.

"Not her." Ryoko groaned and released Ranma who jumped away and glared at her. She smiled as both of the humans stared wide eyed out the window at the light show Ayeka was putting on. Phasing through the window she looked up and saw Ryu-Oh hanging motionless above the house. Ranma and Tenchi appeared at her side and pulled the blinds away to look up.

"Great it's the princess." Stepping back into the room Tenchi and Ranma turned back to her. Putting on her best scared look she kneeled in front Tenchi. "Please Tenchi she's the devil, I was just playing before, if you don't give me the jewels we'll all be killed."

"Think we should trust her?" Tenchi asked Ranma.

"I don't know, she didn't really seem that serious before. Though I will be getting her back for holding that stupid light sword against my neck." She upped the water works as Ranma glared down at her. Surprisingly the girl wilted instantly and started waving her arms around wildly.

"Please stop crying, oh jeez oh jeez, please stop stop please." She blinked and dropped the act. Usually the sad puppy dog eyes only worked on guys.

"Alright how do I give them back?" Tenchi sighed and looked at Ranma strangely with her.

"Easy just hold the bottom in my direction and will them to go to me." She smiled brightly and stood up. Presenting her wrists she could almost purr with delight at getting access to her full powers.

"Alright." Tenchi held up the tenchi-ken and concentrated on giving one of the jewels to Ryoko. Ranma was watching as the bottom jewel pulsed once before it disappeared and reappeared on Ryoko's right wrist.

"What you were supposed to give me all of them." Ryoko glared at Tenchi fuming over being denied the full extent of her power.

"You stop whoever it is who is outside and i'll think about giving back the other two alright?" She narrowed her eyes but relented. Ayeka would be easy to defeat with but a single jewel.

"Come forth Ryo-ohki!" She shouted connected with her eternal partner who gave a resounding miyah back through their link. Back at her location in the lake near the Masaki shrine, Ryo-ohki's systems crackled to life for the first time in 700 years.

X X X X X X

"Ayeka-sama please you must not. The statute of limitations has ended. Ryoko is no longer a wanted criminal" Ayeka didn't turn to glare at her guardian Azaka who once again reminded her of the ineptitude of the system.

"Nonsense, we will capture Ryoko. Once we did that we can come up with a reason. She's our only link to finding Yosho."

"This is kidnapping Ayeka-sama." Kamidake added.

"I'm going to capture Ryoko and that's that." She firmed her resolves. "Is this thing on?" She asked Ryu-oh not understanding why Ryoko didn't rush out to start a fight.

"Yes Ayeka-sama."

"Fire a warning shot somewhere nearby."

X X X X X X

Outside the house on a ladder, Nobuyuki watched the goings on inside the room. Camcorder in hand he peeked through the small space at the bottom of the blinds. That Ranma girl was incredibly attractive and now he found another stunning beauty in his sons bed before he had even gotten in the room. 'My son is so manly!'

Several kilometers away a woman known to carry a tightly wrapped bundle nearly spit out her tea as she sneezed. Dabbing at the small amount of liquid that had come out with a napkin she and wondered who was talking about her.

He did frown when the girl he didn't know tied up Ranma and held her in place with some glowing sword. 'I didn't think my son was into bondage. But if it gets him girls like this who cares?'

Nearly thrown off the ladder he looked up to find a blinding light coming down from above. Up above was a giant space ship that was hovering above his house.

"Ryoko I know you are here come out now!" A voice called out from ever where and he fell off the ladder to land heavily on the ground when the unknown girl moved through the wall in front of him.

'Not good.'

X X X X X X

Ranma and Tenchi cried out as an explosion rocked the house showing the room with glass. Blinking the spots from her eyes the light outside suddenly died off and a loud cry of miyah echoed everywhere.

"What is that!?" She cried out, it almost sounded like a cat.

"Heh that's Ryo-ohki." A bright yellow light surrounded everything. "Let's go Ryo-ohki!"

"WAAA!" Ranma and Tenchi cried out as they were lifted off the floor along with the entire house from it's foundation. Rematerializing on a large black circular base. Looking around it looked like they were in some kind of dome.

"What's with all these floating things?" Around them were a large number of red glowing crystals that floated in mid air.

"Ryo-ohki let's get out of here."

"MIYAH!" Ranma shuddered at the sound, it wasn't exactly like a cat but it came close.

"My, my house." Tenchi said pitifully beside her. Looking at what Tenchi was crying over she found a flattened mini version of Tenchi's house complete with his father sprawled out on the ground.

"I just made it travel size." Ryoko smirked and the platform lurched to the side as the sky started to whip by them at high speed. Staring wide eyed with Tenchi they watched as large beams of light shot by them.

"Feels so good to be flying around again." Ryoko gave off a stretch and looked all too pleased with herself. The ship gave a lurched as one of the light beams hit them. "Damnit! Ryo-ohki return fire!"

"MIYAH!" Oddly enough the platform tilted forward completely but they didn't slide down.

"Haha, take that princess." Ryoko cackled madly as the ship lurched forward from releasing something backwards. Ryoko's laughs increased for a moment before clutching her head in pain and the ship stopped suddenly. All the crystals started to violently shake in mid air and Ryoko screamed as an invisible force wrapped around her.

"Hey you alright." Ranma couldn't stop herself from trying to help. Seeing someone, especially a girl in pain was one of her instant action buttons.

"Stop stay back." Ryoko gasped out and her hand was suddenly shocked.

"Proceeding with capture of Ryoko." A voice called out from the side revealing a large wooden log floating in space with a blue kanji symbol painted on it's front. Ryoko cried out as she was absorbed into the log.

"What the hell? Who are you?"

"Proceeding with capture of other life forms." Turning another with red kanji drew closer and suddenly she was frozen as something wrapped around her waist binding her arms to the side. Fighting it she was helpless as the log moved forward and she fell into it.

X X X X X X

"Are you comfy Ryoko?" Peeking open one of her eyes Ryoko found the crown princess of Jurai sipping tea as if her being upside down and captive meant nothing. 'Typical princess.' Not that her orientation mattered much at all. A different perspective on things would solve a lot of problems in the universe.

"Very, do you think you could give me a sponge bath while i'm here?" She smirked as the princess spit out her tea and stood up. She watched the girl come up holding the tenchi-ken in her hand. 'hmm my jewels but she isn't going to release them.'

"Tell me where my brother is."

"Who? Oh you mean your half brother, what was his name again?"

"It was Yosho you monster, now tell me where he is."

"He's not here, guess he died." She smirked as the girls gaze turned murderous and electricity started to arc through her body.

"Ah, haha, stop it, i'm ticklish, please, if you wanted, to tickle me, you should, use your hands!" She got out through laughs. With one of her jewels returned this kind of attack did literally feel like someone tickling your entire body inside and out.

"Enough." She almost frowned when it stopped. 'Now if only I could figure out what would gave pleasure.'

"Who are those other two natives that you were with?"

"Who?" She asked innocently.

"You know who! The two who were on your ship!"

"Oh them, just a couple interesting natives." She smirked at the angry look that crossed the princess' face and her cheeks puffing up.. 'Ah, i've missed this.' That thought was cut off as Ayeka shoved the tenchi-ken into her stomach and it's power ripped through her body. Screaming in pain she thrashed around for what felt like hours but was only a few seconds.

"Ayeka-sama, it is your bed time." Able to open her eyes again she found Ayeka being admonished by a small purple globe.

"Go away, i'm busy."

"I'm sorry but I was very clear that you need to rest well."

"Fine, i'll deal with the other two tomorrow."

"Night princess, better add a few hours onto your beauty rest, I think I see crows feet." She smirked at the momentary tensing of the nobles shoulders before she walked away.

X X X X X X

"Tenchi, hey wake up." Ranma poked Tenchi's unconscious body with her foot again. When he didn't wake she went back to trying different ways to get out of the cage they were in. It was weird, like a living thing it reacted when someone tried to escape and blocked it off. What was really weird was that it and everyone else on the ship looked like it was made out of trees. "Stupid tree roots." She glared at them again, even at her fastest they still somehow got her.

Running and jumping at a large open spot she started to get through before it closed around her waist and caught her in mid air. Trying to swim through the air had no effect and she realized she was stuck some 5 meters in the air. Slumping lifelessly she plotted her escape.

"Wow, you can jump really high." Blinking she raised her head and looked at a small girl with big trailing pig tails of light blue hair and large pink eyes looking up at her. Some strange animal curled around her left arm.

"Uh hi." She said lamely and waved.

"Hi. I'm Sasami, what's your name?"

"I'm Ranma, hey uh listen can you get me out of here?"

"Nuh uh, Oneesama will get angry if I did that."

"Oh." She made another attempt to get the roots to release her but it was no use the tree roots just held fast.

"Maybe, if you got me something."

"Like what?"

"My Oneesama wears a control band for the ship, if you get me that i'll agree to let you out."

"Really? Sure thing I can do that."

"Ok." The girl smiled and held up a small something and pointed it at the bars which suddenly opened into a large archway releasing her to fall to the ground.

"Ack!" She called out and twisted in mid air to land lightly on the ground.

"Ooh, i'm sorry I forgot that you were so high, but that was really cool how you landed how did you do that?"

"Huh, oh that was nothing. Now wheres this thing I need to get at?"

"Don't you wanna help your friend?"

"Oh that's right I forgot about Tenchi. Well, will he be alright waiting here?"

"He should be."

"Well i'll just go get what you want then I can come back, get him, then we can get outta here."

"Right, i'll show you were it is." Ranma suddenly found her hand grabbed and was dragged along mercilessly by the small girl as they moved through the forest. 'Just how big is this place anyways?' It wasn't long before she found herself sitting in some grass with Sasami looking at a lighted tree. What he couldn't stop staring at was the monstrous tree that loomed at the center or what she thought was the center of this place.

"She's in there." The little girl whispered.

"Alright let's go get it."

"Nuh uh it's you that has to go."

"But how am I supposed to know what it looks like?"

"It'll be on her forehead silly." Ranma frowned at the little girl who was giggling at her.

"Fine i'll be back in a few minutes." Moving with all the stealth that years of dodging people after Genma's greed did something stupid, she moved through the tall grass and was quickly at the tree. 'Whatta ya know this bodies good for something.' With her smaller size she could easily just run through the grass without anyone seeing.

Jumping up the steps at the base of the tree she was through the open doorway easily. 'Guess they weren't expecting me or Tenchi to get free. Now that I think about it where is Ryoko? She's the cause of this entire mess.'

Glancing around at the she found a curtain of some kind of purple silk with a large bedroom behind it. 'That must be where she's at.' Pulling it aside she stepped through and examined this new room. A very large bed sat pushed up against the far wall. Tan sheets with a large purple pillow that spanned it's width. Above hanging from tree limbs were clusters of softly glowing globes. On the bed lay an attractive purple haired girl. 'Sheesh is everything purple round here?'

Stepping up lightly to the side she found that the girl was clutching that hilt of Tenchi's. 'Guess i'll grab both things.' Crawling onto the bed as lightly as she could due to the lack of reach of her shorter form had. She pulled off the headband without much difficulty then moved to grab the sword. She frowned when the girl held firm. Tugging a few times the only response was the grip tightening. 'Why you!'

Moving to straddle the girl she grabbed the hilt with both hands. Trying to pull away it glowed white before running high voltage through her hands causing her to cry out for a second from the pain. 'What the hell is this thing anyways.'

"Huh, wha?" Ranma froze as the girls soft red eyes fluttered open and turned to look at her.

"Uh heh heh, hi i'll just be going now." She smiled and tried to move away but was reward with a strong kick to the stomach that sent her flying off the bed. 'Why am I getting attacked by a bunch of tomboys all of a sudden?' Shooting to her feet she noticed that she now had the hilt. 'Haha victory!'

Victory was short lived as the hilt sparked and shocked her. Juggling it between her hands for a moment, she flipped it into the air towards the door and took off after it, leaving an irate princess behind her.

"Azaka, Kamidake! Get that girl!" The two logs from earlier appeared at the side of Ayeka's bed. She was surprised when the girl was literally gone by the time her guardians had appeared. "My she runs fast."

"Who you calling a girl?!" Ranma shouted back on reflex but quickly stopped trying to reason with someone who would have no clue. Catching the hilt at the end of it's flight she flipped it into the air before it could shock her again. Moving quickly she deftly avoided energy blasts as the logs sent volley after volley after her.

"Haha this is fun." Sasami laughed as Ranma landed near the girl and gathered her up and taking off again. Carrying the small girl, dodging log energy blasts, and occasionally kicking the stupid hilt when it got near the ground. 'And I thought Oyaji caused problems.'

X X X X X X

"Ugh." Tenchi returned to the land of the living and sat up. "Huh?" Getting up he looked around at the tree roots that surround him. Walking out of an open archway he was surprised when Ranma with a young girl in her arms dropped next to him along with the tenchi-ken dropping neatly beside him.

"Stupid bloody stick zapping me. Hurry up and take it we gotta go some logs are after me."

"Their names are Azaka and Kamidake, they're our guardians." The girl added.

"Can you call em off or something if they are?" He asked as he gathered up the tenchi-ken to stow in his pocket. He guessed that these logs were the same ones that had taken Ryoko, Ranma, and him off of Ryo-ohki.

"Nope, they're my sisters only she can."

"Just great, wait is Ryoko here?" Ranma asked kneeling to look the girl in the eyes. It didn't take much with how short Ranma was.

"Ryoko? Let's just get out of here, why would we find her?" He asked, what was Ranma crazy? Ryoko had been trying to kill them.

"She's got a ship right, and I don't think miss prissy back there will be too happy to bring us back after I took this." Ranma did smile at the gold tiara that she held.

"Oooh you got it." Sasami cried and grabbed it and placed it on her forehead. "I could bring you back now. And I don't know who Ryoko is but the other person Oneesama brought on board is over there." Sasami pointed towards a structure that looked like the cage he had been in.

"Well let's go save her." Ranma said and took off running.

"Hey wait for me!" He yelled and tried to catch the speeding red head who was carrying someone. 'How is she so fast? Even Jiichan never moves this fast. She's nearly as fast as Ryoko.'

"Stop!" Not stopping he turned and saw the two logs flying towards him. 'Ok now I know why she runs so fast.' He doubled his speed when they started shooting energy blasts at him.

X X X X X X

Ryoko yawned and smacked her lips together a few times as she lay in her cage. Ayeka had been only fun for a few minutes, now she was just bored. And these stupid trees always stopped her from using her abilities. 'Such a bother.' Sitting up at the approaching footsteps and explosions she found Ranma and Tenchi along with a small girl rushing towards her. Teleporting to a standing position next to the bars she smiled when the logs retreated. 'Probably going to get the princess.'

"What's all this then?" She questioned and leaned through the bars to look at the out of breath Ranma.

"Hello i'm Sasami, it's nice to meet you." The small girl gave her a bow.

"That's great kid, now let the grown ups talk, unless you can let me out." The little girl frowned and the control band glowed briefly as the cage split. Nearly spilling forward she noticed the band for the first time. 'How'd she get that from the princess?'

"Ranma-neechan who's this older lady?" Her eyes as well as Ranma's narrowed at the little girl. 'How dare she call her older.' Ranma on the other hand was angry about the neechan added to her name.

"That's Ryoko." Tenchi answered.

"What a charming little girl." She smiled and started to ruffle the girls hair, very hard, causing little cracks to come from her neck.

"Ouchie, Ryoko-san is strong."

"I've found you." The group of four turned to find Ayeka standing with Azaka and Kamidake at her sides. Clad in her ornate purple Jurai robes it wasn't a very intimidating sight. 'Seriously who shows up looking for a fight in a kimono that would fit at some royal wedding?' Sasami darted behind Ranma's back trying to hide.

"Sasami what are you doing with the control band?"

"Hehe I just wanted to play Oneesama." The little girl fidgeted under Ayeka's gaze.

"That's enough play for you, come here this instant and get away from that criminal and her accomplices. That redheaded girl could be dangerous." Ryoko smirked as the redhead puffed up for being acknowledged. "And you hand over the tenchi-ken."

"No way it's my families heirloom."

"Family heirloom?" She could almost see the gears turning in the princess' head. "You, you mean you are a descendent of Yosho's?"

"Yeah I am."

"Then that means." The girl trailed off and looked close to tears.

"Well as fun as it is to hang around." She broke in before anymore waterworks started. Teleporting between Tenchi and Ranma she grabbed them both around the waist and lifted them into the air. They both cried out in indignation shortly before one of Ryo-ohki's spikes ripped through the floor in front of them. "Ta ta!" She cried out happily to Ayeka who was now pinned to the floor by one of her guardians. Ryoko's giant spike having sent the trio flying. Cackling madly she pulled them into the ship.

"Bye bye, lady." Sasami waved as her new friends left.

X X X X X X

"Time to make our get away!" Ryoko cried out happily and released Tenchi and her. Falling to the floor of Ryo-ohki for the second time Ranma shifted and rubbed her much abused backside.

"What do you mean get away? We gotta get back home." Tenchi broke in.

"Home? Well in that case i'll have to stop princess from doing that ever again."

"Wha?" It was disorientating as the view outside shifted, moving from looking down at the earth above to looking at the vast expanse of space the other. Ranma smirked as Tenchi looked a bit ill, years spent training in the air had given her a seventh sense for where she was in space. Sixth sense being for danger of course.

"Ryo-ohki increase your mass and let's head back to earth." Ryoko cackled madly as the ship gave off a miyah and the stars started to move away. Ayeka's panicked voice came through something begging for Ryoko to stop which only caused her to laugh more. Flame licked the side of the glass and her and Tenchi shared a worried look and tried to find something to hang onto.

"Ryoko stop please!" Tenchi called out as clouds whizzed by, the only answer was Ryoko's maddening laugh.

A huge explosion rocked Ryo-ohki and sent the ship flying sideways. Looking up she spotted some bridge off in the distance and water below them. Her and Tenchi cried out when the ship caught the water sending them into a spin. Wildly spinning the impact sent all three of the occupants of Ryo-ohki slamming into one of the walls in a heap.

"Ite." The mass of limbs and bodies moaned.

X X X X X X

Author Notes:

First off, no no no no no no no, pause deep breaths, no no no no no no no no no no no Tench and Ranma are not going to be paired together. Actually I don't even plan to have Ranma paired with anyone. Doesn't fit with the ending I have planned. Tenchi is going to end up with someone but I haven't decided. Nor do I plan to till the story is written more.

If you want a good Ranma/Tenchi fic check out "Tenchi and Ranma, Together Forever!?", it's listed in my favorites as the oldest one. It's missing a chapter or two on but if you go to the penultimate ranma archive, they have the rest.

I'm not into needless character bashing but well let's just say Genma is going to have his share of woes but nothing too terrible. And if Ranma seems a bit OOC, well there is a reason for it.

BTW what is Ryoko's clothing, specifically the one with different colored arms, as that is my favorite outfit of hers. I have an idea but i'm thinking there must be some actual name since it seems like i've seen things like it in a few different shows.

Ite - ouch

Oyaji - dad, inpolite form

Jiichan - Grandfather

Oneesama - older sister, very polite

sama - honorific used when addressing someone of higher rank/importance

kun - honorific used when addressing males near the same age/status

If I messed up on these please don't hesitate to tell me. I'm pretty sure I got their usage right. I don't like to use a ton of japanese in my fics but if it's shorter than the english and in some way denotes more than one can say with an english word i would like to use the honorifics at least.


	2. No Need for Curses

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

Himitsu the Hunter - Thanks for pointing out that I haven't really described the world around the characters all that well. I'll labor to do so from now on to help flesh out the world more.

- Thanks for the geography, I was unsure on the distances as well as the location of Tenchi's home. I've updated the previous chapter to show that Ranma and Genma fought while in Okayama two days before Genma's introduction to the Tendo's. Which makes a certain amount of sense since Genma would be a cheap idiot and take the shortest boat/flight which would put them on the western side of japan then have to travel east.

**X X X X X X**

Outside of Okayama and buried deep within the mountains sat the Masaki shrine. Hundreds of steps up from an unusually deep lake sat the shrine itself and the living quarters of Masaki Katsuhito. Who was currently making his way leisurely down the steps towards his son in laws house that had suddenly appeared last night near the lake.

The other day had been interesting. Tenchi had stolen his keys and awoke Ryoko from her slumber. He wasn't sure on the details but she had apparently tracked Tenchi to his home. Most likely to collect the gem stones. This may have been the end of it if his dear sister hadn't shown up in Ryu-oh and picked a fight. Ryoko had been able to call up Ryo-ohki and the two must have fought in the skies before crash landing in the lake below. Rubbing his ears in remembrance of the loud noise that had accompanied their landing.

Stopping at a landing that had an open view of most of the valley, he looked out at the rising sun that was now peeking out and bathing the area in a warm glow. 'Such a wonderful day it is. And if i'm right it will be very festive soon.' Taking a moment longer to survey the lake he found his sister Ayeka trying to pull pieces of her ship from the water. Up high on a piece sat a small red haired girl watching curiously the actions of his sibling. 'Is that Washu? No it can't be, Washu has much more hair and is still imprisoned at the other side of the valley. If she had been released there would have been even more fireworks last night. No point waiting, today will be interesting.'

Struggling with the piece of wood Ayeka had her sleeves rolled up past her elbows. Grunting and groaning she made very unprincess-like noises as she tried to pull the pieces of Ryu-oh from the lake. Slipping on some mud she fell to the ground and released the piece of wood which fell back into the water with a splash.

"I'm going to be stranded here." She moaned pitifully, it had been going so well. She had captured Ryoko the, former, most wanted criminal in the galaxy. But that Ranma girl and Sasami had freed Ryoko and now her ship was destroyed. It was horrible how could a crown princess of Jurai be stranded on some backwater planet without anyway of contacting home.

"Whatcha doin?" An amused voice asked from in front of her. Glancing about she found no one.

"And now i'm hearing things. Why is this happening to me?"

"Uh no, you're not hearing stuff, i'm up here." The voice called out again and she looked up to where Ranma was crouched on a piece of Ryu-oh that was jutting out of the water some 5 meters into the air.

"How'd you get up there?" Tilting her head to the side she looked quizzically up at the small girl that had seemingly climbed up to such a height without her noticing. The girl no longer wore the ill fitting tshirt and shorts she had the previous night and now wore an overly baggy red silk shirt and black pant combo. A small white fabric belt was tied around her waist with the two ends dangling off her right hip. 'Does this girl have no decency? All she wears is boy clothes and without the proper undergarments.'

"I jumped, so whatcha doing? I'm no expert in space ships, but it looks like this thing aint going no where." Ranma kicked a small piece of wood at her feet and it fell into the water with a small splash.

"I don't even know anymore." She wanted to cry but being the princess that she was, she would not do so in front of a commoner.

"Well how bout you head back and get some breakfast, Sasami asked me to come get you."

"I guess I am a little hungry." She could feel the slight stirring of her stomach.

"Well come on then." She was shocked when the small girl leapt from her perch and landed lightly next to her. Such a feat was easy for those with the power of Jurai but this girl couldn't have any access to that. And she'd done it with such grace that she once again had thoughts that the girl wasn't from Earth. 'Such a mystery this girl.' She blinked as the girl held out a hand to her.

"Here lemme help ya, i'm starving." Taking the hand she found the girl was incredibly strong as she was pulled forcibly but gently to her feet. "I'm Ranma by the way." The girl smiled and laughed lightly.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted last night Ranma-sama. I had no right to take you and Tenchi-sama captive." Giving the girl an appropriate bow to show her submissiveness she awaited Ranma's next words.

"Meh it's ok, actually it was kinda fun. And it's just Ranma."

"I'm glad there are no hard feelings, but it would be improper for me to refer to you in such a matter Ranma-san."

"Well I guess that's better than sama. Come on let's go get some food." The red head turned and walked towards the house that now sat nestled amongst the trees a short distance from the lake. Ryoko had apparently taken most of the yard with the house and there was even a small path of stones that lead to a dead end in the direction of the lake.

She studied the smaller girl as they walked. The way the girl carried herself gave off the air of years of training as a warrior. It even had almost a catlike grace to it. But it also didn't look at all like how a young woman should walk. Inertia was gained through the shoulders rather than the hips and the whole display was very masculine and forceful. Even her speech was crude and masculine.

"Excuse me for my rudeness Ranma-san but were you raised as a boy?" The girl tripped on her own feet but recovered before it was only a momentary pause.

"Uh, well yea I was." She had to smile at the insufferable cuteness of the smal red head scratching the back of her head and smiling at her. 'With a little work I might be able to turn her into a respectable young woman. A project of sorts to take my mind off of being stranded on Earth.'

"Is there a reason you don't wear proper undergarments." This time the red head did fall on her face. Giggling at the girl who jumped to her feet in a second looking none the worse for wear.

"It's uh complicated, yea that's it."

"I see, well it's very improper for a young lady that has been as, gifted, as you have to go around in such a state." Again the girls face was planted into the ground. Unluckily they had arrived at the veranda to the house causing the girls face to plant heavily into the wooden boards. "I'm sure it is not the most comfortable feeling when you are doing strenuous activities. How about to help atone for my misdeed we shall go shopping and get you a proper wardrobe?" Completely forgetting that this planet did not have jurai as it's currency.

"No no thanks though but i'm fine really." Sliding off their shoes and opening the patio door they found the rest of the households occupants assembled around a table. The dining room had a high ceiling as it was connected to both the first and second floor. Large support rafters hung above them. Two of the walls were made of panes of glass that looked out in the direction of the lake with a patio door they had just gone through contained in one.

One of the walls contained on the left side the steps to the second then third floor. Next to that was a door that lead to both the main entrance and the kitchen. The rest of the wall was taken up by a window that allowed the kitchen and the dining room to be connected. Around a table were two low sitting couches and some small pads for people to kneel on.

Ryoko was floating in mid air attempting to grope Tenchi, Sasami was sitting calmly next to the table sipping tea. The man she knew as Tenchi's father sat next to her doing likewise. By some cosmic coincidence Ryoko kicked the tea pot sending it flying in mid air towards them. The top tipping open releasing it's hot contents on both of them. Crying out in indignation she wiped the hot liquid off her face and glared at Ryoko.

"Ryoko how dare you!" She was about to call forth Azaka and Kamidake to attack the woman when she noticed they weren't looking at her or giving any attention to her outburst. Everyone's attention was firmly fixed on Ranma next to her. Turning to see what was more important than herself she found herself looking at a handsome black haired boy wearing the same clothing that Ranma had on. Only instead of swimming in them like Ranma was, they fit his form well.

"Who are you?" Ryoko got out.

"Uh, heh heh, i'm Ranma, sorry bout this." The boy closed his bright blue eyes and scratched the back of his head in the same way Ayeka had seen Ranma just a few seconds ago.

**X X X X X X**

One day in the future, at the home of Soun Tendo...

"Oh my." Kasumi's hand was in front of her mouth looking at the giant panda that had just come into her house.

Nabiki would have agreed with her elder sister but she was at a loss for words. They all were as the giant panda quickly grabbed the tea kettle and doused itself with the steaming water.

"Ouch ouch ouch that's hot." The now human man hopped around for a bit as the water cooled slowly on his skin.

"Ge genma is that really you?" Her dad was able to get out.

"Indeed Soun."

"But how? You turned into a panda."

"The story begins one month ago when Ranma and I arrived at the cursed training grounds of Jusenkyo." In full on sensei mode that overweight man was no sitting cross legged and had his eyes closed.

"Jusenkyo." Her father agreed. "It's true horror has been hidden until now."

"Indeed, we came upon the place early in the morning. A bumbling guide failed to warn us of the danger. You see Jusenkyo is a simple training ground in the valley between several mountains. According to the guide hundreds of pools lie at the bottom. In each pool there are bamboo poles. Ranma being foolish, jumped up onto one before I could talk with the guide and find out more. I followed worried about my son. Atop the poles we sparred till I knocked him down into a pool. He was so enraged by what he became that he attacked me as I tried to console him. He knocked me into another pool and out I came as a giant panda."

"So if you fall into one of these pools you became something?" Nabiki asked, this was a very interesting place if the man could be believed.

"Yes in each pool something has drowned, cold water causes a person to turn into their cursed form. Hot water as you've seen returns you to your original form."

"So then what does Ranma turn into?"

**X X X X X X**

Back in the present at the new location of the Masaki household...

Ryoko was madly laughing in mid air. Twisting and rolling as she floated around the room. Ranma's head fell from where he sat at the table. With the events of last night and the origin of the three actual women in the room they had been remarkably quick in regaining their wits and asking what was going on. Nobuyuki still looked puzzled by the situation and Tenchi seemed to be taking it in stride.

He had related the story of Jusenkyo. How he and his father had sparred atop the bamboo poles. Knocking his father into the spring of drowned panda. Being so shocked that he froze up allowing his old man to knock him into the spring of young girl. The whole memory was incredibly depressing, anger causing, and embarrassing.

"Would you please stop laughing?" He asked softly as Ryoko was partly through a wall yet still cackling loudly. 'How does she do that anyways?'

"Yes please stop, this is obviously a painful memory for Ranma-san." He smiled a little as Ayeka attempted to come to his aid.

"Your being mean Ryoko-neechan." Sasami agreed glaring at the woman.

"Ok ok, hahahaha, fine, hahaha, i'll stop." Ryoko bit her hand trying to stifle her laughs but he could still see and hear her muffled giggles.

"I wasn't plannin to tell you, I was gonna leave first thing in the morning. I guess with all the craziness last night it just slipped my mind to leave." His head dropped again he let a little bit of depression take over. Any moment now Tenchi or his dad would tell him to leave. It was odd but he found that he was already attached to the place and even the people in it and really didn't want to leave.

"It's alright Ranma. You're more than welcome to stay." Tenchi broke in and cut his melancholy.

"Stay? You mean don't care?" He couldn't help letting some hope enter his voice. He'd expected anger for hiding from them but instead he was being told he could stay at someone's house?

"Well Ryoko is a dangerous space pirate and Ayeka-san and Sasami-chan are princesses of some incredibly powerful royal family that controls most of the galaxy. Compared to that, you changing into a girl is pretty tame. You also said that you didn't have anything but the clothes on your back, we couldn't possibly expect you to leave." Tenchi was smiling pleasantly along with his father and all the rest, although he noted Ryoko was still stifling her giggles.

"Yea why would we not like you because of this Ranma-nee I mean Ranma-niichan?" Sasami smiled pleasantly at him.

"You don't think i'm some kind of pervert?" That had been the first reaction by the majority of the people who had seen the curse in the past month. As if all he did was spend time molesting his female form.

"Of course not." The blue haired girl paused. "Are you?" Sasami surprisingly gave him an odd look as if measuring his pervertedness.

"No way i'm not a pervert!"

"Well that's good, I suppose this explains why you are such a tomboy Ranma-san." Ayeka seemed pleased with herself.

"I'm not a tomboy i'm a guy." He mumbled remember Ayeka's promise of shopping.

"Be that as it may it's improper for you to run around like you do when in your female form." Ayeka nodded to herself. Ranma may be a boy but when he became a girl, he was clearly in need of instruction in what that meant. She was preparing to talk with Sasami and ask her help in giving Ranma some training on being a female when she noticed the absence of the boy. "Huh where did Ranma-san go?"

Blinking as the scenery suddenly shifted Ranma found himself hanging upside down over the lake with someone holding onto his leg keeping him aloft. Looking up he found Ryoko smiling in a way that he really did not like.

"Ryoko what are you doing? Put me down!" Trying to twist out of her vice like grip was impossible.

"Sure." Too late he realized where he was and what she was going to do as Ryoko let him go to plunge into the lake.

The answer to Ayeka's question came a moment later when a splash then a shriek of feminine outrage came from outside. The group turned to look out the window and found Ryoko floating in mid air with Ranma in female form wildly jumping up into the air trying to attack the laughing woman, who floated just out of reach.

"Sorry I have to go but I need to leave early to get to work on time. I'll start on the paper work to get our mail delivered out here. Ugh today's going to be long, especially with all the interesting events going on here." Nobuyuki stood, bowed to the two princesses and left.

"Bye dad." Tenchi called after him and the two females did likewise.

"Well this is most interesting." The group turned to the new voice of an elderly gentleman standing next to the kitchen door wearing pale blue hakama's and a white haori. He shifted his glasses to sit better on his nose.

"Jiichan what are you doing here?"

"I just came to see what all the fuss was about last night. And here I find a house has sprung up over night. Ah the things they can do today." Something about this man was tickling Ayeka's senses. Small things like the way he moved, how he held himself, and even the look in his dark burgundy eyes.

"And here I find my grandson has gained a few beautiful house guests." The mans eyes twinkled with mirth as he looked at each of them. Ayeka and Sasami had small blushes on their face.

"How long were you there Jiichan?"

"Long enough to find that one of the guests has visited Jusenkyo. A rarity in itself but not so rare as to have a pair of princesses now sitting at your table."

"Tenchi-sama who is this man?" She asked studying him.

"Sorry Ayeka-san, this is."

"Masaki Katsuhito, excuse me for not introducing myself." The man finished and gave a polite bow. Further conversation was cut off as Ryoko appeared in the middle of the room while pulling her mouth wide and sticking out her tongue.

"Nya nya nya, girly boy can't get me." The patio door slid open forcibly and a wet Ranma lunged at Ryoko only to pass through the smiling woman. Unable to stop she stumbled and tried to turn back to Ryoko but ended up falling into Katsuhito's arms. The curiosity Ayeka had over the man vanished when his hands groped Ranma's impressive bosom. She could almost see his glasses fogging.

"My my such a healthy young girl you are." Ranma looked puzzled for a moment before looking down at the hands that were squeezing her chest. Causing a rather unfamiliar but not entirely unpleasant sensation.

"Ack!" Ranma jumped from the mans grasp and threw a punch that was caught easily in Katsuhito's palm. The mans hand and arm not budging in the least.

"Fiesty too." Ranma pulled back and stared at her fist. 'I put everything I had in that punch and he stopped it like it was nothing. How strong is he? And what have I gotten myself into with these people?'

"Well i'll be heading back up to the shrine, ah it's nice to have some visitors around. This old shrine can get mighty boring sometimes." The man turned and leisurely walked back out of the room and slid the door shut behind him.

"Who's the old geezer?" Ranma asked looking both puzzled and angry at the same time. But equally unable to decide on a course of action.

"That's my Jiichan, Katsuhito."

The red head turned to go through the door for some hot water when a kettle of steaming water dumped on her head. Cringing in pain she felt the shift back to male and looked up at Ryoko who was laying on the rafters smiling innocently down at her.

"Hot, not boiling." He said forcing a smile, ignoring the woman he hopped over the back of a couch to get some food. Ryoko soon appeared sitting very close to Tenchi who for his part barely choked on his food. Ryoko's abilities were quickly becoming common place.

"Tenchi-sama if I may can I use your bathing and wash room facilities?"

"You'll have to use the ones up at the shrine till we can move the house or get the utilities hooked up. There's a water pump up there that filters the water as well as a heater."

"Shrine?"

"It's at the top of the stairs, let's finish breakfast and i'll take you up there." Ranma was many things. Oblivious about most things that didn't involve martial arts but he did notice the way Ryoko's smiling face darkened when Tenchi offered to do something for Ayeka.

Brushing it off since it didn't involve him he quickly demolished the food he had taken. There wasn't much on the table and he was still very hungry. Looking at the others plates he was very tempted to try stealing some but decided as a guest he shouldn't. If his Oyaji had been here there would be no question, his old man would be losing food.

"Ah that was good." He patted his stomach and reclined a bit on the couch.

"Thank you Ranma-niichan."

"You made this Sasami?"

"Yup I love to cook." The blue haired girl practically beamed at the praise. "Can you cook Ranma-niichan?"

"10 years on the road with a fat glutton who can't cook and steals all your food makes you learn real fast."

"How bout you Ryoko-neechan?" Said girl jerked as if shocked and laughed nervously.

"Of course I can what kind of woman would I be if I couldn't cook." More nervous laughter followed.

"So not at all." Ayeka butted in while sipping tea.

"What was that princess?" Ryoko growled.

"I don't believe I stuttered." Ayeka sat the cup down and turned to smile serenely at a now snarling Ryoko.

"Ya know what you need Ayeka?"

"Hmm?"

"A bath."

This time Ranma got to watch as Ryoko was instantly behind a stunned Ayeka before they were gone. Looking out the window found Ayeka struggling in Ryoko's grasp before she was dropped unceremoniously into the lake. Ayeka's shriek of outrage was heard clearly in the house. Her revenge was short lived when Ryoko appeared next to Tenchi again.

"What is there something on my face?" She asked with a rather large smile.

**X X X X X X**

When Ayeka had calmed down enough to no longer attempt murder on Ryoko, Tenchi found himself walking next to her as they climbed the shrine steps so she could clean off the mud from the lakeside. Every so often he'd steal glances at the princess who seemed capable of walking the many steps without much difficulty. He remembered the first time he had climbed the steps. It had taken him over an hour, but in that case he had been very young.

"Are you alright Ayeka-san? I know these steps can be difficult if you're not used to them."

"Thank you for the concern Tenchi-sama, but i'm quite alright."

"That's good, I think we'll all have to get used to the climb till we can get working utilities."

"It's possible we might be able to create something with parts from Ryu-oh." Tenchi watched Ayeka shed a tear.

"I'm sorry about your ship. I would have tried to stop Ryoko if I had known she would do that. It kinda feels like my fault."

"Your fault?"

"I told her to take us home, she said something about stopping you from taking us again."

"It's not your fault for what that monster woman did."

"I know, I just feel like if it wasn't for me none of this would happen." She didn't seem to have an answer for this and they arrive at the top of the steps to the shrine area proper. Large stones create a platform, a pagoda sat directly in front of them. He smiled when he saw Katsuhito sweeping and humming a small tune to himself.

"Ah Tenchi have you come to help your grandfather sweep?"

"No no no, Ayeka-san wished to take a bath and we don't have any running water at our house."

"Shirking your duties Tenchi, come let's go train and make sure you haven't gotten rusty. Ayeka-san let me show you where the bath is." Sighing in defeat he went to grab his training clothes from the storage room.

**X X X X X X**

Finished with her bath Ayeka exited the shrines bathing area, which was in fact a small room with a metal tub. It was primitive and far beneath what she was accustomed to. But at the moment beggars couldn't be picky. Seeing no one around and hearing the repeated clacks of wood on wood she went towards the noise figuring it was Tenchi training.

Stepping lightly through some low bushes she came upon a clearing with Tenchi jumping across small wooden pegs that were coming from the ground. In the air another peg was tied to a rope. Tenchi would hit the peg before jumping to another position to strike again. Keeping silent as not to interrupt the training she watched patiently and noted every movement.

"Watch your footing Tenchi." Katsuhito admonished his student who was having trouble balancing. Groaning he watched the boy fall onto his back.

"You've been gone 2 months how is it that you've become so bad?"

"Sorry Jiichan." Tenchi moaned from the ground.

"Come on get up, we'll work on the basic sword forms then." Ayeka gasped as the pair stood and drew their boken and laid them on each others shoulders. Quickly they drew them back and stepped beyond each other to start in a complicated kata.

"That's the sword style of Jurai." She whispered and Tenchi caught it immediately. He stopped and turned his head only to have Katsuhito knock him on it with a boken.

"You're distracted."

"Where is that part of the sword forms?!" Tenchi yelled back rubbing his head.

"It's not."

"But where did you learn that it's."

"I suppose that's enough for the day Tenchi, how bout you show Ayeka the rest of the shrine?" Almost rushing the man left them.

"Oh my did I say something wrong?"

"I don't know, Jiichan is never like that."

"I'm sorry Tenchi-sama that I interrupted your training."

"It's ok, might as well take Jiichans advice and show you some of the shrine."

**X X X X X X**

"Tenchi!? Where are you Tenchi!?" Darting from room to room Ryoko searched for her beloved. Peaking her head through the wall of Tenchi's room she found it empty. Groaning in frustration she grabbed a pillow from his bed and allowed herself to fall slowly through the floor till she came out in the kitchen. Grabbing a bottle of sake she ducked through the wall into the dining area. Rising up to land on one of the rafters. Morning or not it was always a good time for sake.

"Tenchi." She whined and took a swig directly from the bottle. Nearly spitting it up she suddenly found a weight on her head.

"Whatcha doin?" A male voice asked, opening her eyes she found Ranma's bright blue eyes in her face. A smile on the upside down face of the boy who was currently crouched on her head. 'I didn't even feel him come towards me.'

"Geh off." She got out as a small trickle of sake trailed down her chin. Almost without her realizing it the boy was off her head and sitting cross legged on the pillow she had dragged with her. Staring back at the boy who studied her with equal force. Quickly growing bored she floated up to lay on her stomach and look out one of the large rectangular windows the lined the second story of the room.

"So what are you anyways?" Ducking her head underneath she saw his eyes tracing her form, analyzing every detail.

"Like what you see?" She purred and twisted to give him a better view of her assets.

"Gak no not that! I just never met anyone who can do what you can." She watched the flustered boy wave his arms a few times before turning away with a pout. 'Kinda cute but nothing like Tenchi.'

"Your guess is as good as mine." Floating down she sat across from him and took another drink of sake. "I've just always been able to do what I do."

"No training or nothing?"

"Train? Why would I do that."

"You know to get better."

"Why bother, when I have all three of my gems me and Ryo-ohki could take out half of Jurai's fleet. Oops did that already. When you have that much power skill isn't needed." She laughed and took another drink.

"You mean like Ayeka's ship?"

"Yea pretty much."

"So if you were so strong how'd you get stuck here?"

"Cause of that bastard Yosho. He took my gems from me and sealed me with the sword. Only reason I got out was because Tenchi took it from." Shaking her head suddenly she started to glare at the boy. "Wait why the hell am I telling you anything? I'm going to go find Tenchi." Putting the bottle down she teleported vertically up and out of the house.

Creating a clone the other her glared at her. 'What do you think you're doing showing weakness to some human?' The clone bopped her on the head. 'I know I don't know what came over me.' Berating herself some more she merged with herself and flew towards the shrine. 'Miss prissy britches said she wanted a bath. What, mine wasn't good enough?'

Ranma continued to sit on the pillow and think about what Ryoko had said. 'Able to destroy a bunch of those space ships? Jeez just who the hell am I going up against here? Better question is why did I actually come to visit her up here. Sure she doesn't seem that bad but she did drop me in the lake earlier and laugh at me.'

"Ranma-niichan." Sasami asked from below, leaning over the railing he found her standing below. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know, i'll go find em though." Standing and stretching he looked out the big window and noticed the storm clouds coming in. 'Boredom or being a girl, boredom or being a girl?' A month of seeing water leap up hill to splash him gave him the distinct impression that any movement outside today would result in Ranma-chan. "Or maybe not."

"What's wrong Ranma-niichan?" Dropping gracefully down next to the girl he pointed out the window.

"Rain clouds, and well I don't really wanna be a girl."

"What's wrong with being a girl Ranma-niichan?" Only an idiot would miss the double meaning behind that sentence. First impulse for Ranma was to decry the female of the species as weak and needing to be protected. Something he wasn't. Luckily he ignored this impulse and decided to go for the second since it's been going well so far to do so.

"Well i'm not a girl Sasami."

"With some cold water you are, so what's the difference." The girl looked up at him puzzled and obviously expecting an answer.

"Um well how would you feel if you turned into a guy?"

"I don't know, I don't do that." For the second or third time now he got the feeling something was going on behind this girls innocent eyes that wasn't exactly an innocent little girl.

"Can you just trust me? There isn't anything wrong with being a girl, i'm just not. Just like you're not a boy."

"Ok Ranma-niichan I guess that makes sense. And it's good you don't want to go out, I think i'd get scared being all alone."

"Don't worry I won't let nothing happen to ya." He smiled at the suddenly smiling girl. The moment was broken when a bolt of lightning split the sky followed shortly by the sharp crack of thunder. Sasami was at his side in an instant holding onto his pant leg.

"Hey it's ok it's just lightning."

"Turn it off Ranma-niichan, I don't like lightning."

"You can't turn the weather off."

"Oh, on other planets you can control the weather." The girl pouted.

"Wow." Once again his views on what was high tech were shattered. Sasami soon released his leg. Getting an idea he pushed the couch over towards the large glass wall and sat down.

"Let's watch, I bet it'll look really cool out here in the mountains and the lake." He gave off a reassuring smile as Sasami sat down next to him. Soon as the girl was on the cushion another bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds directly across the lake. Tensing a bit as the girl was suddenly holding onto him he rested his hand on her head.

"Don't worry I said I wouldn't let anything happen to ya."

"Ranma-niichan do you mean it?"

"Of course." The girls pink eyes sparkled at him before she let go of her death grip and settled for being curled at his side. Rain started to fall lightly then turned into a heavy downpour. 'Man everyone here is so nice. I've just met them but I already don't want to leave, this place is weird. And I never met any aliens before. How crazy is that? I even have one that calls me niichan. I wonder if things will quiet down or get even crazier?'

Lightning crackled horizontally along some clouds and the thunder quickly rolled across the house. In the kitchen plates and dishes chimed lightly as they bumped off one another. The slight audible distortion he was beginning to recognize as Ryoko teleporting came from his right. A slightly damp Ryoko appeared and hovered over the far side of the couch. Her spiky hair weighed down against her head.

"Ryoko-neechan did you come to watch the lightning too?"

"I guess." The girl seemed rather angry about something, but landed lightly on the couch. "I couldn't find Tenchi." She whined.

"I'm sure Tenchi-niichan is fine."

"That's not what i'm worried about."

"What are you worried about?"

"You'll understand when you're older." He didn't particularly get it himself but relaxed his head to rest on the back and gave off a yawn. Only Ryoko had gotten a good nights sleep the night before. With the dark sky and rhythmic tapping of the rain against the metal roof and wooden veranda he was soon fast asleep.

**X X X X X X**

"Let's head back Ayeka-san, it looks like it's going to rain." Standing under the great expanse of the Masaki shrine holy tree Tenchi watched as Ayeka stepped lightly across the stones that lead to where it stood in the middle of a small pond. The tree itself sat in a large clearing and some of it's roots had risen from the water.

"Just a second, Tenchi-sama please come here. There's no doubt about it, this is Funaho."

"Funaho?"

"It's my Oniisama's spaceship, if you remember there was a tree like this on my ship. Tree's like this are the heart and soul of our ships."

"Wow, so this tree can turn into a space ship?"

"No, it has taken root." Ayeka drew the tenchi-ken from her sleeve. When they had first gotten home he had given it to her. The sword was useless to him but she seemed to have some attachment to it. Tapping the tree lightly with it a few times electrical sparks shout out from the swords purple end and into the tree.

"What's going on?!" He looked up as the tree's leaves started to glow brightly. Around them lines of rainbow colored light beams shot out at angles and hit the water before shooting skyward.

"This is the ships memory, don't worry." The world turned black around them and looking at Ayeka and his hands he found that all the colors were inverted.

An endless expanse of stars came into view around them. A ship he recognized as Ryo-ohki flew by with another hot on it's tail and firing off laser blasts. The other ship was even more oddly shaped compared to Ryo-ohki's. A large capsule sat in the center of it. In keeping with Jurai's tree theme there was a vertical branch like structure that was offset towards the bottom. It came off from the front of the ship like a giant prow.

"That's my Oniisama's ship." The scene shifted to show a view from the earth as Yosho's ship shot even more laser beams that dug huge craters into the ground when they missed Ryo-ohki. Suddenly Yosho's ship shot out a group of beams that hovered over Ryo-ohki before impacting at the same time and causing the ship to crash land into earth. The explosion clearing out the trees and making a large hole in the ground.

"That's the shrine, it must be how the lake was made."

Again the scene shifted to show Ryoko. Her eyes glowing red and a fiery sword in her right hand. Clad in a skin tight black suit, except for her shoulders that were puffed out. Her arms were covered in red which had spikes that wrapped around her chest starting from her shoulders. Along the right side of her face from the center of her right eye down the black material also covered.

"She looks so scary." Ryoko was scary powerful when he first met her, this was just an entirely higher level of power. 'I'm glad I didn't give her more than one jewel.

A man looking to be in his mid 20's was now battling Ryoko with the tenchi-ken, the hilt creating a sword of brilliant blue light. Clad in ornate white and blue clothing the man pierced Ryoko's neck with the sword. The mad look on Ryoko's face stayed in place as the jewels were pulled from her wrists and neck before entering the hilt. The wild struggles of the girl stopped and she slumped lifelessly, impaled through the neck on the sword.

"What's going on?" He asked as the world faded back into view.

"My Oniisama is alive, I know it. With Funaho alive he must be alive somewhere on this planet." Ayeka raised the tenchi-ken and presented it to him. "I must apologize again for my actions. I'll return this to you. You are related by blood to the Jurai Royal Family. I'm asking for you to protect us, till I can find my Oniisama." He took the offered sword with every intention of giving it right back.

"But i'm no good with a sword even though i've trained for a long time with Jiichan. I'm sure Ranma-san would be a much better choice of protector than me. He seems to much stronger than I am."

"I have faith in you Tenchi-sama. And you've seen for yourself that Ranma-san cannot hold the sword. I'm not sure why but I just feel like you have a great potential."

"Ah, but why is that?" Before Ayeka could say anything lightning split the sky. "We should hurry back to the shrine before we get caught in rain."

"Right." He held out his hand and stepped across the first stone. Ayeka looked hesitant for a moment before taking it and suddenly he found himself almost dragged along behind her. Her over confidence cost her as she slipped on a slick portion. Her left leg fell down between them and she fell down heavily twisting it.

"Ouch ouch ouch." She hissed and slowly lifted her leg from where it was trapped. At her side instantly he helped her get it out.

"You must have sprained it. Here get on my back." This time Ayeka didn't hesitate to grab his hands as he lifted her up so she could rest on his back.

"Thank you Tenchi-sama." She said softly.

"Don't worry about it Ayeka-san. After all you did ask for me to protect you." He smiled back at her and he found her returning it.

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

It's always interested me in the many different ways the initial meeting and explanation of the curse could go. In canon Ranma's first meeting with the Tendo's was basically one of rejection. First he gets an offer of friendship. But as soon as the family finds out that he's a boy and that the engagement can go through, he's judged instantly off the curse and is rejected by all three because of it.

The characters in Tenchi Muyo are incredibly accepting of things. Washu turning people into kappa people, all the varied life forms, goddesses, people who try and kill them that they suddenly try and hook up with other people trying to kill them. Aside from Nobuyuki there really shouldn't be any reason that they wouldn't accept Ranma as is.


	3. No Need for a Thief

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

Thanks to all my reviewers and those who have my story favorited and story alerted.

Also I admit no knowledge of the actual area that i'm going to describe when the crew goes into town, I am just going by what i've seen in pictures or on the web and whatever I can think up.

**X X X X X X**

"A girl?" Nabiki's left eyebrow was threatening to raise up higher than her hairline as the fat man nodded solemnly. This was certainly unexpected. For some reason she was expecting some kind of cat, duck, or even a little black piglet. But a girl simply hadn't gone through her mind.

"Well that's not too bad. He's only a girl half the time then. The engagement can still go on." Sharing a disgusted look with her sisters at her fathers pigheadedness, she decided to help diffuse the situation.

"Yea problem there daddy, Ranma isn't here, and I don't think any of us are interested in getting married right now."

"Nabiki's right, how can you expect us to get married when we are still in high school?"

"Oh my, i'm not in high school. But then again younger men don't really interest me."

"Genma do you have any way to find your son?" She resisted the urge to frown as Soun ignored them.

"I lost him in Okayama, i'm sure if we go together and search we'll find him. My son has a skill for drawing attention."

"There was a report of a UFO arriving the other night there, followed by a bridge being destroyed by a meteor." Grabbing a newspaper he gave it to Genma who read quickly over the headline.

"Let's see, some high school, the Masaki home, and the Great Seto Bridge all in one night? That must be the boy, though he's never caused this much damage, let's leave right away!"

"We have school tomorrow we can't just go halfway across the country to look for someone." Akane huffed.

"We'll make it a holiday, the first to find Ranma is destined to be his fiance."

"Too true Soun it'll be fate."

The three Tendo sisters each gave off disgusted sighs as the two males went off to go celebrate.

(I needed to get it out of the way. And please remember that this is currently 1 day ahead. The next time they meet will be on the same day so I no longer have to switch back and forth.)

**X X X X X X**

"Come on Ranma let's go find Tenchi." Ryoko beckoned as she floated a couple meters off the ground. Sasami stood off to the side on the ground waiting for him as well.

"Ranma-niichan come on." Resigning himself to the possibility of being female he jumped over the small puddle that was at the base of the door. Catching up with the pair they took off for the shrine steps. Lacing his hands together behind his head he walked leisurely but kept a wary eye out for puddles. Sasami was humming something and Ryoko floated along so quickly that she would occasionally have to circle around.

"Wow that's a lot of stairs." Giving off a whistle as he looked up at the shrine steps. Next to him Sasami nodded her agreement. It was oddly humbling to look up at the huge number of steps that weaved their way up the hillside to disappear into the trees.

"Slow pokes." Ryoko landed between them and grabbed their wrists.

"Wait a second Ryoko." Too late to stop the girl, they suddenly found themselves at the first landing. They both wavered on their feet before it happened again, and again.

"Ryoko, maybe you shouldn't do that." Laying on the ground at the top of the steps Ranma's eyes were little swirls from all the disorientating movement. Sasami was next to him in a similar state but unable to voice her displeasure.

"Weaklings."

"Good afternoon." Katsuhito said from behind Ryoko who eeped and jumped into the air and out of reach. "Sorry, didn't meant to scare you." The old man's voice didn't sound all that convincing, nor was his smile.

"If you don't want to die old man don't do it again." Ryoko punctuated her statement by forming a glowing red ball. Unfortunately she was ignored completely as Katsuhito turned to the other two.

"What can I do for you two?"

"I'm right here ya know!" Ryoko yelled from above.

"The crazy chick up there is looking for Tenchi." Ranma jerked his thumb at Ryoko who was now stewing over the added crazy chick comment.

"They're over there." Katsuhito pointed behind Ryoko towards the shrine. Sure enough Tenchi and Ayeka were just coming out of the door way.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko called out happily and teleported next to him before grabbing him in a hug. Sasami as well ran over to where the trio was leaving him alone with Katsuhito.

"Tell me young man how was Jusenkyo?" Tensing immediately he prepared for any attack. 'How does he know that, I don't remember him being in the room when I explained it? Was he spying on me?' He wasn't about to take the old man lightly after he stopped a punch earlier with no effort.

"Easy young man, I heard you explain it earlier. So will you be staying here long?" Remaining suspicious he let his guard drop.

"No clue. Till I get enough money to go back to China or till they throw me out."

"I see, don't worry about the latter, you're welcome to stay so long as you help out around the shrine or house."

"Around the shrine?"

"It should be worth room and board don't you think?"

"I don't have to wear no stupid uniform or nothing do I?"

"Only when tourists are around, just to keep the esthetic."

"Sure why not?"

"One last thing." The old man in front of him was smiling so hard his eyes were shut. "It can get lonely up here, so could you maybe do it as a girl?"

WHAM

"It was just a joke."

"You're a comedian." He stated flatly.

"Jiichan why is Ranma grinding his fist in your head?" The pair looked up to find Tenchi standing with Sasami and Ayeka next to him. Ryoko was hovering off to the side looking angry about something.

"We were just discussing Ranma's employ." Ranma watched as the man stood without trouble even after the punch he had just hit the man with. 'Just who the hell is this guy anyways? I didn't hit him hard but still.'

"He'll be working with me at the shrine. I'll see you tomorrow at 8." He just shrugged, as Katsuhito took his leave seeming to ignore the world.

"So you got roped into working at the shrine? Better you than me, i've swept enough steps for three life times." Tenchi sidled up next to him and whispered in his ear.

"You'll get extra training tomorrow for that, 7 am." Katsuhito didn't turn around as he continued to walk towards the main shrine building. Tenchi jerked as if shot and visibly deflated. 'Training? Maybe i'll follow him tomorrow and see what kind of stuff that old man teaches.'

"Tenchi-niichan I went through all the food in the house and there isn't anything left that I can make without power."

"You don't have to cook all the food Sasami-chan."

"But I like to cook."

"Well it'll be pretty late if we go to the nearest store then come back. So how about we head into town and get some supplies and dinner?"

"Like a date Tenchi?" Ryoko had gotten over her anger at Ayeka and was now purring at Tenchi's side.

"As if Tenchi-sama would ever do such a thing with someone like you." Ayeka sniped from the other and Sasami stepped lightly over next to him and out of the cross fire. Both girls grabbed an arm and attempted to pull Tenchi to either side. Said boy was looking a bit woozy as he was pulled violently side to side.

"Ya think they'll do this all the time?" He asked and crouched down to be at her eye level.

"Maybe."

"Monster woman!"

"Spoiled incest product!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?" Red sparks played over Ryoko's body and small logs started to appear around the trio in mid air.

**X X X X X X**

'How did I get myself into this mess?' Trying to retrieve his arms from the two girls that were holding him tightly was useless. The only consolation was that being on the train they were sitting close enough together that they weren't being torn from their sockets.

Across from the three sat Ranma and Sasami. Sasami was looking out the window and watching all the sights. Ranma had been splashed earlier triggering his change into female. The boy turned girl was also interested in what was going by outside even though most of it was meaningless countryside then nondescript buildings. Of course Ranma would also look his way occasionally and chuckle/giggle at his predicament. The conductors voice came over the speakers announcing there arrival at Okayama station.

"Could you um, maybe let me go for a bit, Ryoko-san, Ayeka-san?" He tempted fate and decided to draw their attention. The girls blinked a bit then turned and seemed to notice him for the first time.

"Sorry Tenchi-sama." Ayeka said demurely and backed away. Ryoko not as well mannered just let go and crossed her arms over her chest to glare at the glass across from her. It was a brief lull in their sparring for his attention. As soon as the train stopped and they went to leave each repeated the incident and grabbed a hand. 'Oh man why do I have all these girl troubles so suddenly?'

"You three gonna go to the next stop or something?" Ranma and Sasami had already stepped off the train. The redhead stood there with her hands behind her back and head cocked to the side smiling blissfully. 'Ranma's so lucky, he doesn't have to deal with these two at all.'

Following obediently as the girls dragged him from the train he directed them in the direction to leave the station. The crowd gave them a wide berth as Ryoko and Ayeka dragged him towards their exit. He could feel Ranma smiling at his misfortune behind him.

"Oooh pretty." Sasami had run forward after they walked outside towards a large fountain. The centerpiece was a globe raised up from the surface that cascaded water with small water spouts in a circle around it that shot water towards the center. Ranma groaned at all the water. 'Why is it always water?'

"Ranma-neechan isn't this pretty?" She sighed for what seemed like the 20th time. Sasami simply refused to budge. Apparently when Ranma was a boy he was niichan, but as a girl she was neechan. 'Gah why can't this kid just pick the right one? I'm a boy for kami's sake.'

"Yea it's kinda cool." Truthfully she liked it, being brought up outside civilization all the sights of the city were fascinating. Though this one thing was tempered by the whole water aspect. "So where are we going Tenchi?"

"I was thinking Omotecho Shotengai. They have a food court and a few shops. Jiichan asked me to pick up a few items from the martial arts supply store. It's about a 10 minute walk." The mention of martial arts stuff made the trip a bit more interesting. Reaching into her pocket to check how much money she could spend she found nothing but lint. 'CRAP I completely forgot that I don't have any money. Guess i'll have to come back once I earn some money. And I was so hungry too.' Her stomach gave off a small rumble thinking of the lack of food.

"What's wrong Ranma-neechan?" Coming back to the world as Sasami tugged on her shirt trying to get her attention. "You made a funny noise."

"Heh heh, guess i'm kinda hungry." She chuckled a bit and scratched the back of her head.

"Well let's get some food first then." Ranma tried to hide her smirk as Tenchi was still being dragged around like a rag doll. Yet still able to look back and talk to her.

"I was just gonna wander while you guys ate, since I don't have any money." She really didn't expect Tenchi to go out of his way to buy her a bunch of stuff. The other three she could understand they were actually girls. Guys were supposed to do that kind of stuff. And of course by wander she would be trying to scam food off unsuspecting guys. No way would she do that in front of Ryoko who would probably tease her endlessly.

"It's alright, Jiichan gave me some money, said you'd work it off later."

"I see." She was going to have to both thank and hurt that old man later. Going into debt with some perverted old man could never be a good thing.

"Tenchi, come on stop talking with Ranma and talk with me." The attention taken off of her she walked leisurely behind the now group of four who were bickering about who got Tenchi. 'Isn't Sasami like 7? What's she doing trying to get Tenchi from those two? Must be some alien thing.'

**X X X X X X**

Ignoring the two full time females as they gave her tips on martial arts fashion, Ryoko was too busy hanging off of Tenchi. She piled the two gi's on to the counter. Tenchi was right behind and dropped off the supplies Katsuhito had requested. Mostly stuff that looked like kendo equipment. Several cheap bokens and a couple other small objects that she couldn't really identify. She had grabbed two white gi's, one for each form. Not really because she wanted too. Ayeka had demanded it, and she could be scary when those log things came up and surrounded you.

"Ranma-neechan I think you should have gotten that one."

"No."

"But it would have looked so good on you."

"No."

"I think you should have gotten it as well Ranma-san."

"I said NO!" She really couldn't understand why in a story that seemed perfectly normal and had a lot of good stuff could have one single bright pink gi. Which just so happened to be the size to fit her smaller frame. 'Just my luck, at least I won't have to see that horrid thing again.'

**X X X X X X**

"Haha too slow!"

"Shows what you know!"

"Hey that was mine!"

"What? That's my favorite give it back!"

"Ranma-san you shouldn't eat in such a manner." Tenchi thanked whatever deity was currently keep the attention from him. Sitting at the food court with the 3 women and a currently male Ranma had gotten Ayeka and Ryoko to release him. Soon as they had sat down Ranma had wandered off and found hot water somewhere. It was still odd thinking of the cute red head as a good looking black haired guy. First impressions were important after all.

If he didn't know any better he'd say Ryoko and Ranma were siblings. Both were currently fighting over food and drawing a spectacle to themselves. The pairs chopsticks flashed back and forth, striking and parrying with a speed he was not ashamed to admit he could not match. They both acted uncivilized and wild. He'd just met both of them but it was obvious they hadn't been brought up like normal people. Both were gifted with monstrous strength and speed. While they didn't look much alike, when Ranma was female they shared the same unearthly beauty and wild hair coloring.

Glancing at Ayeka and Sasami as they ate in a dignified manner took note of their odd hair coloring. Ayeka's wasn't a bright purple but it was definitely an odd color. Sasami's almost turquoise hair looked very out of place among the mostly black haired populace of Japan. Paired with Ranma's bright red earlier along with Ryoko's pale cyan, they had garnered a large share of odd looks. Realizing that he had forgotten his own food while watching the spectacle he was brought back to reality and started eating at a leisurely pace.

Ranma smirked triumphantly while chewing on the last dumpling that he had stuffed into his mouth. Ryoko was frozen with her hand and chopstick at the plate. Chewing slowly he watched her eyes track his jaw as it moved up and down in an exaggerated motion.

"I win."

"Another bath." He choked a bit at the evil smirk on the space pirates face. Coughing he tapped his chest a few times in a futile attempt to clear up any blockage. A bath was one thing, they were warm and felt nice. Being thrown into a really cold lake was a different animal entirely.

"Tenchi-sama what else is there for us to do before returning to your home?" If it wasn't for Ayeka trying to change his behavior, especially while in female form, he would have thanked her for changing the subject.

"Uh oh, yea we need to grab some food and that should be it."

"Actually I still need a couple things." He got into the conversation, it was one thing to wear the same outer clothes all the time. Especially while living in the wild with his Oyaji, who never wore anything other than a gi. But when in society he had quickly noticed the dark looks he got for it. That and washing them several times a week to avoid the smell, got old the first time.

"Oh my that is right isn't it. Ranma-san does need more than three sets of clothing." He rolled his eyes as the gears literally turned in Ayeka's head and her eyes seemed to light up at the prospect of shopping. He hadn't forgotten her earlier pronouncement to set him up with a proper wardrobe.

Now he was rapidly considering that taking the trip into town was an even worse idea than he had first thought. He had no clue if Genma was still wandering around searching for him. He had a sneaking suspicion the old man would be trying to track him down sooner or later. It had happened before when he had been left to stay at someone's shrine or training ground. Genma would leave for a time, he'd get comfortable, and then Genma would show up and drag him away.

"Ayeka-san I don't think Ranma would appreciate getting into too much debt with Jiichan." He let out a small sigh of relief as Tenchi must have sensed his distress. Even though it wasn't the real reason he was worried. Spending an eternity playing dress up for some princess was not how he wanted to spend the night. Getting some training in and maybe convincing Ryoko to show off her moves some more so he could study them was. What the space pirate could do was simply to great an asset not to try and learn.

"I'm sorry I had forgotten, I would not wish to do that to Ranma-san. Perhaps when rescue comes, he'll accompany us back to Jurai so I can repay some of my debt for taking you aboard Ryu-oh." Mirroring Tenchi earlier he thanked the kind deity who had saved him from Ayeka's attentions for the time being.

"Uh, thanks, I think." Was all he got out and waited somewhat impatiently for Tenchi and the two from Jurai to finish their meals. Though he was intensely curios to take another trip out into space. The first hadn't exactly been planned or appreciated but getting to see another planet would be the trip of a lifetime.

"Tench, would you like me to help you eat?" Attention diverted from himself again he decided to stay quiet and watch the show as Ryoko and Ayeka fought over Tenchi's attention.

**X X X X X X**

It was 9 by the time they had gotten back to the shrine. Dropping off all his baggage in his new room Ranma sat down heavily on the futon that had been given the previous night. It was a small room, barely big enough for the futon to be unrolled and with a small window. Nobuyuki had shown up as they were waiting for the last bus back to the shrine. The driver hadn't been happy to hear where they were going and had explained that he didn't take passengers up at this time. But as soon as the elder Masaki had explained the situation he had relented.

Tenchi's dad had checked into getting some utilities connected at the homes new residence but it had been declined. Being too far from civilization and being a cultural landmark or some such nonsense. It didn't really bother him too much since he'd be spending most of his time at the shrine anyways, where Katsuhito had a propane stove and a few other amenities that could be used till something was found. Ryoko had also offhandedly remarked that she might be able to create something.

Pulling the clothes from the shopping bags he folded them neatly before dropping them into the small dresser that was positioned in the corner. Removing his red shirt and black pants which had begun to fester a bit he put on the cotton pajamas he had gotten. Black spiral surrounded by white star marks were placed randomly around the red material that could easily match his girl forms red hair. Again it was something Ayeka had demanded, saying that it wasn't proper for him to run around in boxers and a tank top. 'How in the world am I going to break her of this kick to get me to be all proper. And she's royalty so she probably just expects everyone to listen to her.'

Stepping out of his room on the second floor his room being at the top of the steps directly up from the entrance he leapt over the railing to land at the first floor below. It would have gone great except Sasami had been walking directly below carrying a bucket full of clean water taken from the shrine. Dropping feet first in the bucket Sasami immediately let go surprised.

"Why is it always water?" Grumbling about the injustice of it all she stepped out of the bucket.

"Are you alright Ranma-neechan?"

"Yea just fine." Wringing out the bottom of her pants back into the bucket she adjusted the now extra baggy clothing. Hiking up the pants to her much slimmer waist she cinched the drawstring. 'That should keep em from getting in my way.'

"Could you go get some more then? I was getting it for tomorrow morning."

"But we don't have anything to cook with down here." She looked at the carrot apron clad girl quizzically.

"Ryoko-neechan is working on something to give us electricity." Mystery solved she took took the bucket, threw on her kung fu slippers, and took off for the shrine. Stopping at the torii that marked the beginning of the steps she looked up at the endless steps. 'Man if I knew how Ryoko did that teleport thing i'd become lazy.' Dumping out the water she started to leap up the steps.

Stumbling a bit at the top of the steps due to the oversized slippers she wobbled a bit before regaining her balance. Stepping quickly over to the water pump she sat down the bucket and started to pump the handle. 'Pretty good workout, i'll have to take them step by step to get really winded.'

"Good evening Ranma." Katsuhito had came out from a side building and now stood at the top of the steps looking out at the valley below.

"Oh what's up?" Truthfully she didn't trust the Katsuhito much. He seemed to know more than he should.

"Just enjoying the evening."

"Yea it's pretty nice out." Choosing to ignore the old man she continued to pump the handle and was reward with the bucket being filled. "Well seeya tomorrow." She said and passed by him.

"Good night." The return trip down took far longer since she wasn't interested in spilling the water. 'Guess it's a good thing i'm a girl. I bet if I was a guy I would have slipped and splashed myself.'

**X X X X X X**

The next morning Ranma's left eye popped open as she heard Tenchi stepped lightly down the steps that were situated next to her room. They continued and she heard the distinctive clap of wood on wood as the front door closed. Quickly removing her pajama's and replacing them with a new blue tai chi shirt and black pants that they had picked up yesterday.

Last night Ryoko had spent time tinkering with some box. Apparently it had been some power supply created by taking pieces from her space ship and combining it with pieces from the house. It had been getting late and everyone else had gone to sleep but she must have completed it sometime during the night as a light was now on at the bottom of the steps. Checking this time before she jumped over the railing and landed without incedent. 'Great now all we need is water and then I won't have to spend so much time as a girl.'

Rushing up the shrine steps she was rewarded by being slightly winded at the top. Pausing she looked around for where Tenchi could be training at when she heard a wooden clacking noise coming from off in the woods. Walking slowly towards it she slid through the woods silently. Coming to a large bush that blocked her vision she looked around and found a suitable tree before jumping up into a branch. Crouching she peered into the clearing filled with wooden pegs in the ground. Weaving through the pegs were Tenchi and Katsuhito who were engaged in a type of kendo match.

'No not kendo, those guys use those strict forms and stuff.' The pairs controlled duel looked rather fluid and contained some intricate sword work that didn't look useful unless used with a duel edged sword. Dropping herself down to let her legs dangle off the branch she was careful to not make any loud noises.

Whatever sword style they were using looked to be effective, Katsuhito had a very tight form and offered little to no openings. Tenchi was wide open most of the time, but the holes in his guard closed quickly and his strikes were precise. Neither was moving with the same speed she and her old man were capable of but they looked to be training for Tenchi's form rather than speed.

"Tenchi what's that over there?" Katsuhito blurted out and pointed behind Tenchi who looked behind only to end up with a hit to the top of his head.

"Jiichan what was that for?" The boy whined and rubbed his head.

"You're distracted too easily. Start on kata number 5." She frowned as the man came up and stood underneath where she sat as Tenchi started a kata. "It's rude for young ladies to spy on people."

"I aint no young lady old man." Leaping from the branch she landed next to him. The jig was up after all and maybe she could get some training out of this. "Sorry bout interrupting ya."

"Apology accepted but i'll have to ask you to leave."

"What why?"

"This is a family style and it's not allowed to teach those outside of it."

"But you aren't teaching i'm just watching." Not mentioning that allowing her to watch would be testament to teaching.

"I'm sorry Ranma I cannot budge on this matter." Katsuhito said with finality. "Unless maybe you would agree to marry Tenchi?" She ground her teeth and resisted the urge to strike her new employer before the first day had even begun. The old man was obviously joking from his tone.

"I'm a guy." She growled out with a bit more venom than needed.

"You're also fun to tease. Now off with you, Tenchi will meet you at the shrine at 8 and you two can go clear the fields of weeds." She snorted before turning and walking away. 'Stupid perverted old man.' She'd work on him later to get him to at least spar with her. Tenchi looked like he'd be a few years before he could be proficient in the style so she had time.

**X X X X X X**

"Jiichan what was up with that? Why did you send Ranma away?" Stepping up to Katsuhito who was watching Ranma leave he was surprised over it. He didn't see any reason for Ranma not to be able to watch, other than his embarrassment.

"It's good you're concerned about your friends Tenchi but you need to focus on what you are doing."

"Yes Jiichan."

"To answer your question, I sent Ranma away because this sword style is not to be taught outside the family or those loyal to it."

"Weird."

"You'll understand someday. Now back to work."

**X X X X X X**

Currently passing Saturn, Detective first class Mihoshi was busy watching a television program and snacking. Surrounded by cute furry dolls, a large television, a book shelf, a nice comfy couch, and a low table in front of her covered with food and snacks. The tanned blonde girl let off a sudden giggle as two penguins on the show joked with each other. The sudden high pitched noise alerting her to a call broke her from her mirth.

"An emergency call?" Turning her arm to view the alert with her wrist she dumped the scalding tea she was sipping into her lap. "AHHH! hot hot hot!" Standing she went to grab something to dry herself when she stubbed her toe on her table. "Ite ite ite." Hopping on one foot she lost her balance and flailing hit her wrist on a book shelf breaking her wrist utility watch thingy.

Quickly dressing, and doing a terrible job of it, in her Galaxy Police uniform she ran to the cockpit.

"What took you so long?" Captain Nobeyama's annoyed face was projected on a screen in front of her.

"I'm very sorry! How can I be of service?"

"Can you be of service?" The man looked exhausted and held his face in his palm. "What the hell are you wearing?" Looking down she found her blouse buttoned incorrectly and went to fix it.

"Stop that, we have a serious problem. We received a distress signal from Princess Ayeka approximately 36 hours ago. Why didn't you report it immediately, you being assigned to that solar system should have received it first."

"Distress signal?" She asked cluelessly as Yukinojo came down from the ceiling. His half globe body lifting off the base to reveal his simple black and white eyes.

"If I may intrude, Mihoshi-dono but you turned it off because it was making noise."

"That was the distress signal?" She tried to remember if that really had been the distress signal. Her commander made interesting noises as he seemed to pull at his hair.

"Now listen here Detective, get to the planet and provide the needed assistance to the Princess. Can you handle that?"

"Yes sir, I will prove myself by rescuing Princess Ayeka." Standing at attention she saluted him. The man looked disgusted and the screen switched off. Sitting down in the captains chair she brought the semi circle control dash around from the side and in front of her.

"Would you like for me to set a course for Earth Mihoshi-dono?"

"Yes please Yukinojo, and um could you get me a cup of coffee?"

"Right away Mihoshi-dono." The ships engines started to engage and a grinding noise came from the control board to her right. Giving it a swift kick stopped the noise and the ship lurched forward.

**X X X X X X**

"This is boring." Ranma added as he and Tenchi cleaned the steps of moss. It was afternoon now, about 5 if he figured right. Clearing the field of weeds had taken up until lunch time. Of course it wasn't one field, no it was several large ones. There wasn't anything planted in them, Katsuhito was too busy monitoring the shrine, or sitting around as he thought it was, to tend to a field. Of course there was a small garden next to the shrine he tended, but that was tiny compared to the large fields that were on their way to the main roadway.

"I know." Tenchi responded from his position the next step down and they worked in silence for a few more minutes.

"So how long have you been training with that sword style?" Mentally he patted himself on the back. He had been dying to ask all day. It had been 2 days now where he hadn't had a decent spar with anyone let alone practice the art. Thoughts of learning a new style and getting a good workout had pushed most of his other thoughts from his mind. It had been an extreme test for him just to wait this long.

"For a long time now, I guess about 7 or 8, mostly during the summer break or when I would come to visit on weekends. How long have you been training for? I've never seen any person jump as high or move as fast as you can."

"Since I can remember, Oyaji's always been making me do something."

"I'm surprised Jiichan was so worried about you watching. Although no one ever has really watched before."

"How bout later we ditch the old man and spar a bit? Ryoko says she doesn't train and I really need to practice with someone."

"No I don't think you'll be doing that." They both looked up to find Katsuhito looking sternly down at them.

"Tenchi go get cleaned up I need to talk with Ranma."

"Jiichan what's going on?"

"Now." Tenchi didn't argue with the way Katsuhito broke no argument. The old priest watched as Tenchi went briskly up the steps before turning to him.

"Do you really wish to learn my families sword style?" He blinked a few times at the question not really understanding the old mans angle.

"Yea I guess so."

"Young man I am an easy going sort. The issue I have with you at the moment is that you attempted to steal the sword style of our family."

"But I"

"You are new here Ranma. If you wish to stay here you should lose those bad habits you developed on the road. Stealing from me or my family in anyway will not be appreciated, understand?"

"I, I understand." He never really had thought of it as stealing. Borrowing maybe, combining definitely. It was one of the reasons he was so good. Studying the different art forms he came across and taking the best they had to offer and using them. It wasn't something most people did or could do.

On top of that he realized that his actions could have very well gotten him kicked out. These people had taken him in and gave him a job, food, clothes, and most of all treated him like a friend. Not for the first time and definitely not the last he cursed his old man for encouraging him to just take whatever he wanted. After so many years it was pure instinct, take the advantage, learn what you could, consequences be damned.

"I'm not mad per se, I can tell you meant no harm. You keep out of trouble and we should have no problems."

"Ri right."

"Good now you should go get cleaned up. Don't want to keep Tenchi waiting."

"Uh yeah."

Not wanting to admit how sore his legs were from kneeling so long, he walked along with Katsuhito up the steps. Studying the old man who was walking with his hands clasped behind his back and an oblivious smile on his face. Earlier he had asked Tenchi what had happened between him and Ayeka. Most of it was them sitting around inside a supply shed trying to keep warm after being doused with rain. 'Ha i'm not the only one.' But what he had gotten from was that Tenchi was also part alien.

Which meant that Katsuhito was also an alien and more so than Tenchi. Before he would have wrote this off as ridiculous but a few things had happened to change his mind on the issue. Ayeka and Sasami looked like a human and even acted like it. Ryoko may have had those golden eyes and big ears but even she could have been human. The fact that both he and Ryoko acted in similar wild ways did help for him to get along with her. Being around Ayeka and Sasami he was constantly reminded of the differences but with Ryoko it was almost like being back on the road with his old man.

The differences he found most important were their lifespan and power. Ryoko was apparently close to 2000 years old. Even Ayeka and Sasami were over 700 years old, though most of it was spent in some kind of frozen state. Ryoko specifically had tremendous power, if her claim to have destroyed half of Jurai's fleet was to be believed. It was a little, ok he could admit it to himself, very intimidating to think that she had destroyed planets, as in several not just one.

Along with that worry was an intense curiosity. He wanted to find out what was out there. He had never thought about it before. His life had revolved around the art and traveling around Japan and China. The idea to travel to other worlds was the most foreign concept he could think of. From what he could gather he could literally live out his life traveling to each and never visit them all.

"You seem troubled." Shaking himself from his internal thoughts he found Katsuhito studying him.

"I guess, just all this stuff about aliens is a lot to take in at once."

"As it would be, but you're a strange one as well."

"Heh guess so."

"I've found that if you take things as they come, you will get through a lot of strange things."

"Like curses?" The old man had a laugh at his expense.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about if you can handle that."

"I'd much rather not have to deal with it."

"Chin up, after all you could have turned into other worse things than a pretty young girl." Groaning at the way Katsuhito emphasized the last three words. They arrived at the top of the steps saving the old man from an attack if he had made another stupid comment.

"Have a nice evening Ranma." He just nodded in response not trusting himself to say something about stupid perverted old men as Katsuhito went off on a small dirt path leading off to the side. He'd dodged a bullet earlier and had no desire to tests the mans patience for at least a few more days.

"So what did you talk about Ranma?" Tenchi greeted while sitting on the low step. The older boy had already gotten changed from his work clothes and now wore some blue jeans and a white tshirt.

"Not much." Tenchi raised an eyebrow but didn't press as he went inside to get his normal clothes. Tenchi had loaned him some work clothes and gloves for when they had worked in the field. It didn't bother him much to get his new ones dirty but Tenchi hadn't agreed with him. Exiting the building he found Tenchi looking up at the sky and a low whistling noise growing in intensity. Looking to where Tenchi's eyes were looking he found a bright light that was growing larger rapidly.

**X X X X X X**

"Mihoshi-dono shouldn't we be decelerating by now?" Yukinojo's worried voice asked as flames surrounded the cockpit.

"Isn't the ship on automatic? Won't the planets beacon do it for us?"

"This planet isn't a developed planet, there is no beacon."

"Oh, is that bad?"

"Yes Mihoshi-dono that is bad."

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

I don't remember it ever being said who could be taught the Jurai sword style but i'm going to assume that it's kept within the Jurai ranks.

I wrote up a lengthy little write up on my thoughts of Ranma and how he acts which will be posted in my forum.

dono- similar to sama but even more respectful.

Sorry it kinda turned into a filler chapter but more madness will occur in the next.


	4. No Need for Contracts

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

**X X X X X X**

Inspecting her work on the Galaxy Police girls watch Ryoko nodded her approval. It wasn't out of the goodness of her heart, that simply didn't happen, unless it was for Tenchi. No this was to learn information about her sentence. Which apparently had ended before Ayeka had shown up. 'Yummy blackmail.' Not that she would call the princess on it right away, no she would wait and use it at the right time.

Stepping through the wall she stopped and leaned back up against it to watch as the girl finally woke up. 'Detective First Class Kuramitsu Mihoshi, this could be a bother if her family for some reason gets involved.' It was no secret that the Kuramitsu family rivaled the Jurai family for power in the galaxy. The tanned blonde's blue eyes fluttered open and she sat up.

"Oh good she is awake." Ayeka was sitting on the couch near the girls head who lay on the other at the dinner table. Sasami stood behind the couch leaning with her head in her hands. Tenchi sat with Ayeka, she would allow it for the moment. Playing the aloof stranger in the corner was far too much fun. Ranma seemed to have a similar idea but was laying next to the window in the sun munching on some potato chips.

"Ooh, uh, where am I?" The blonde chose to look around at each of the people.

"Where did you come from?" Sasami asked curiously ignoring the girls question.

"Where did I come from? Oh no I have made contact with the locals!" The girl looked around with the biggest look of confusion she had seen in a long time.

"Excuse me, we haven't caught your name yet." Of course Ayeka had to ruin it by jumping in and getting the girls attention.

"I'm sorry, my name is Mihoshi." The girl bowed lightly to Ayeka then noticed her wrist watch was gone. "Oh no where did it go?"

"You mean this?" Holding up the watch.

"Yes yes that's it!" The girl was up and towards her in an instant. "I don't know who you are but thank you." Smiling as she pulled it just out of reach when the girl grabbed for it she was rewarded with the girl getting small tears in her eyes. "What are you doing? Please give it back."

"What is the Galaxy Police doing here?"

"Oh she's from the Galaxy Police?" Sasami and Ayeka shared a look of surprise then suspicion, the two biggest powers in the galaxy did have a strained relationship.

"So you know about us? Well I was sent to answer the distress signal from Princess Ayeka. But my ship crashed." Holding out the watch, the girl wasn't any fun, at least Ranma would have attempted to grab it with force. "Thank you very much."

"Hear that princess? You're so unimportant that they send someone who can't even fly to save you."

"Shut up you monster woman!" When they had investigated the downed ship it had been wrecked and it's power plant destroyed. She could fix it easy enough but that would mean Ayeka would be happy, something she could not allow. But it would mean she would go back to Jurai leaving Tenchi to her. But she could also try and take Tenchi with her. There were too many different possibilities so she decided to do nothing. The status quo was far easier to deal with anyways.

"You mean you're Princess Ayeka?" The blonde seemed to have caught up finally.

"I am, on behalf of the Jurai royal family me and my sister Sasami would like to thank you Mihoshi-san for your assistance."

"Some assistance." She muttered and tried not to smirk at the vein the suddenly appeared on Ayeka's forehead.

"Oh you fixed it. Wow you must really understand it's structure. But that would mean."

"Would mean what?"

"That you would know how to fix it, would mean." She put a little more predator glint into her eyes as the girl backed away in fright. 'Maybe this would be fun after all.'

"That you're a watch repairman?" Her face met painfully with the floor causing laughter from the other occupants.

"Why you!" She grabbed the girls blouse and prepared to belt the ditzy blonde.

"Ryoko-neechan is actually a space pirate." Sasami was giggling off to the side.

"Space pirace, and Ryoko?" Briefly she wondered if Tenchi would make her clean up a person shaped smear on the wall. The girl brought up her watch and a small screen popped out. "But the statute of limitations ran out on Ryoko a couple of days ago. She's not wanted anymore." She gripped the blondes blouse so hard that the fabric tore. 'That was my bomb to drop not hers!'

"Ryoko leave her alone." Tenchi stepped inbetween the two.

"But Tenchi." She whined and pleaded with her eyes as her love ignored her in favor of the blonde

"Mihoshi-san right? Well if you're stranded we have room here. Ayeka-san and Sasami-chan are already staying here and if it's your job to rescue them you'll need to stay around them right?"

"That's right, um if it's not too much trouble." The girl finished with a cute pout that Ryoko just wanted to wipe right off.

"It's no problem." She could almost see the hearts form in the blondes eyes as Tenchi, HER TENCHI smiled at Mihoshi. Growling she teleported away.

Ranma seemed to be the only one to notice the disappearance of Ryoko. The other three occupants of the room were all focused on talking with Mihoshi. Being off to the side he had caught the look of hatred that had swept over the cyan haired woman before she disappeared. 'And damn do I need to learn how to do that.' Seeing as he didn't find Mihoshi that interesting, he finished his chips and left quietly.

It was easy to find Ryoko who was laying on top of the bottom most torii. Waiting at the bottom for her to actually notice him, he quickly grew bored and jumped up to the top. Landing in a crouch next to her head, he looked down into her face.

"What's up with you?" She glared at him before he found himself looking at the worn red colored wood. Looking up he found her standing at the other end with her arms crossed and looking out at the lake.

"All you people getting in my way that's what."

"In the way of what?"

"Tenchi." He rolled his eyes at her dreamy expression.

"Hopeless."

"Jealous?" He turned his head to the side as she appeared behind him floating on her side at his shoulder level and trailing a hand along his chest.

"No thanks, I'd rather not have a bunch of crazy chicks hanging off me all the time."

"Ha you are jealous." She swiveled around him some more trying to get in his face even though he kept moving it away. "Hmmph and here I thought you would be a bit of fun." Ryoko sat down lightly down a meter from him.

"So you never train right?"

"Why would I bother?"

"So you don't get fat." He had seen his old man mention a similar thing to a woman once and it had gotten an instant rise. Ryoko was no exception.

"I'll have you know that i've worn the same size for the past 700 years." The former space pirate struck several poses that emphasized her assets. It was lost on Ranma who was thinking of his next attack.

"Weren't you in a cave for that long?"

"Shut up unless you want to get thrown into the lake again."

Not really interested in taking an impromptu swim and a different curvier form he shut up. He really didn't like it when Ryoko fawned over Tenchi. It was a weird feeling, on some level he connected with Ryoko, for some reason he couldn't fathom. Seeing her paw at some guy who just ignored her or got annoyed with her irked him.

Across from him Ryoko was stewing. She didn't care about Ranma or what he wanted but what she did want was Tenchi. Ayeka was obviously a rival, those damn Jurai families loved to marry each other to keep their precious power within the family. She could only hope Tenchi was far enough removed from the family that it would be seen as disgraceful which would get Ayeka to give up. Spoiled princess she may be, she would bow down to her fathers wishes.

The blonde bimbo detective wasn't a threat at all. There hadn't been a reason to leave like she had earlier. Of course the lure of being in such a powerful family as the Kuramitsu might interest Tenchi. She now had to revise her opinion of the blonde's chances. Good body with a wealthy and powerful family to back it up.

She let off a sigh at that. Ayeka and Mihoshi both had rich powerful families. What did she have other than a list of her crimes that would fill the Jurai family royal library. She had come from nothing, no family, not even a last name. Perhaps that was why she tolerated Ranma who had little better of an upbringing than her own. Neither knowing what to say the both ended up laying down with their feet towards each other looking up at the sky.

However inside the house a purple haired princess of Jurai was watching the pair with her own agenda. Ayeka was torn between getting Ranma to act civilized and the desire to get Ryoko out of the way for Tenchi's affections. 'Can I sacrifice Ranma-san to get Tenchi-sama? Who knows what horrors that monster woman would inflict upon someone she is interested in. Oh well it can't be helped, Ranma-san's sacrifice will allow Tenchi-sama to escape Ryoko's clutches. And then he can be all mine!'

"Oneesama are you alright?"

"Oh i'm sorry what was that Sasami?"

"You were laughing like this, OH OH OH OH OH OH OH, it was really scary." Mihoshi added childishly.

**X X X X X X X**

"Tenchi, I think i'll have to kill that old man." Ranma in female form muttered darkly as a small bus filled with tourists chugged slowly up the road towards the steps.

"He warned you about days like this, and It can't be that bad Ranma." Tenchi stood next to her as they waited. They both wore hakamas, a kimono shirt, tabi socks and zori sandles. The hakama's were the same light blue color Katsuhito always wore while the kimono shirts were white. The old man had even roped her into a white ribbon at the end of her pigtail.

"Well how bout we take a trip to China and then you can find out for yourself." The redhead said sweetly and cocked her head to the side smiling. To herself she added, no it's not that bad, I just don't like it, I should be a guy not a girl.

"No no that's alright." Tenchi chuckled nervously at the angry redhead. Years of helping at the shrine had gotten him used to days like this when he had to help the elderly up the steps and just generally be eye candy to tourists. It was long and boring but it was better than working in the fields or cleaning off the steps.

"And look at these stupid sleeves, I could hide a person in these things." Why Katsuhito had a female kimono top he didn't know, he didn't remember a girl helping out at the shrine before. But he was glad the male version had smaller more fitting sleeves. From the way the redhead was carrying on he didn't think Ranma was really angry, just presenting an appearance. Earlier just after changing Ranma had tipped over a bucket, hence the female body. Katsuhito's more perverted nature took over and he told Ranma she should stay like that to give the tourists some variety. Or as Tenchi assumed eyecandy for the men.

Mostly, unless bickering with Ryoko over food or manga, which the household had found out last night the pair shared a similar taste in. The pair had fought, very vocally and a little physically, over who got to read what first. Ranma otherwise appeared to be a fairly quiet individual and when he actually did get upset about something he would go and brood by himself briefly before returning in a good mood.

The grey bus ground to a halt in front of them and the doors swung open. Greeting each of visitors as they stepped off the Ranma thanked whatever deity that overlooked the shrine that they were all young to middle aged and didn't look like they would need help up the steps.

One person did catch her eye though. It was a woman in her early to mid thirties with dark auburn hair. She was carrying a long bundle and wearing a traditional kimono in a green theme.

"Good morning." She greeted first as to be polite and bowed.

"Good morning young lady." The woman smiled and studied her for a second before turning to Tenchi. "Good morning Masaki-san."

"Good morning Saotome-san, it's been a long time since I last saw you."

"Saotome?"

"Oh my I should have introduced myself, I am Saotome Nodoka. What's your name dear?"

"I'm a Saotome Ranma." She replied a bit hesitantly, resisting the urge to play with her pigtail. For some reason the woman made her more nervous than she had been in a long time.

"I'm sorry did you say Ranma?"

"Yes."

"What a coincidence, I have a son who has the same name as you."

"A son?" She looked over at Tenchi who had a shocked look on his face. "Um what's his dads name?"

"My husbands name is Genma."

"Have they been on a training trip?"

"Oh my yes, how did you ever know that?"

"Because my Oyaji's name is Genma."

"Oh dear." The woman whispered and her eyes rolled back in her head as she feinted.

**X X X X X X**

"Alright spill it Tenchi." A now male Ranma dressed in his red shirt and black pants glared at Tenchi from his spot kneeling next to Nodoka. He sensed a lot of water coming in the future.

"I had no idea, she's only come to the shrine 3 times before." It was true and in fact he hadn't seen the woman for around 2 years.

"Did she ever say why she visited Tenchi-sama?" Ayeka looked worriedly at the woman who was laid out on a couch, a cold wash cloth placed on her forehead.

"No."

"Don't you remember your mom Ranma-niichan?"

"No I only ever remember being on the road with Oyaji and he never talked about her, or anybody. I just assumed she was dead or ran off on us."

"That's horrible." Was chorused by three of the four females. Ryoko was currently laying up in the rafters which had quickly become her bed and not saying anything. A groan from Nodoka drew their attention fully to the woman.

"Are you alright?" Ranma asked worriedly as the woman sat up slowly.

"Oh, i'm sorry I just had the strangest dream. A red haired girl just claimed to be my child. Isn't that just the oddest thing. I would think to know how many children I had and what sex they were." Nodoka looked around at the assembled group and then held her eyes on Ranma.

"Well it's not exactly a dream."

"Young man this is most improper to joke about such things. But tell me what is your name?"

"I'm Saotome Ranma."

"I'm sorry but forgive me if I don't immediately believe you. But who was that red haired girl earlier?"

"That was." He paused unsure on how to explain it. "Also me."

"I'm sorry what?" He jerked a bit, it wasn't really easy to explain the curse, let alone to someone who might be your mother. 'Oh hi i'm your son, oh these? They're just breasts don't mind them, just get me some hot water.'

"It's a, ya see it's Oyaji's fault, and well, we were in china, and it was at this place." He stuttered and finally ended up playing with his pigtail. He couldn't understand why he was so nervous but explaining the curse made it even worse.

"It's a curse Saotome-sama, Ranma-san is cursed to turn into a girl if splashed with cold water." Ayeka added and saved him from further stuttering. He would thank her later once this was sorted out.

"A curse? I've seen a large number of strange things but curses? I hardly think" Nodoka looked to be continuing but a bucket of cold water dropping on his now her head stopped the woman. Shivering she looked up to see Ryoko lazily dangling a bucket over the side of the rafters, with the only visible part of her being a slender arm. Her gaze was brought back down to earth as a prodding at her chest. "They're real."

"Um yea, could you maybe stop?" The woman's hand jerked back and she stared at it in shock. "I turn back with hot water." As if on call a stream of hot liquid was poured on his head.

"Thanks Ryoko." He glared angrily up at the space pirate who waved lazily down to him and never showed the rest of her. He was almost tempted to jump up there and start pouring water on her when his shoulders were grabbed firmly and he was twisted to view Nodoka's frantic face.

"Are you really him? Saotome Ranma, son of Saotome Genma, and you've been training these past 10 years with him?" He nodded and found himself in a bone crushing hug with Nodoka sobbing into his shirt. Unused to the situation he just patted her lightly on the back and attempted to breath. Glancing around he found the smiling faces of Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi and Tenchi. Unsure on how to act he just let Nodoka hug him.

It was around fifteen minutes later when Nodoka finally tired of crying and slowly backed away from him. Finding a box of tissue that had been conveniently put within reach he handed it to her. Nodoka took several and wiped away the last of her tears and some wetness from her nose. The other occupants of the room had left to go do whatever it is they did shortly after the crying had started, leaving him alone with Nodoka.

"Sorry about losing myself like that."

"It's no problem."

"Is Genma here as well?" He shrugged, it had been weird getting away from his old man but at the same time it had been very relaxing.

"I left him a few days ago. Not sure what was up with him but he was dead set on getting me married off as quick as possible and I wasn't having any of it. I think he said something about the Tendo's."

"You ran away? That isn't very manly."

"Manly?"

"Don't you know about the contract?"

"What contract?" Nodoka dug into her bundle and pulled out a very worn looking piece of paper before handing it to him. Unfolding it he found a crudely written letter. On the bottom right were several small hand prints and one large thumbprint.

"It was the contract you and your father signed. As you can see he was supposed to train you to become a man amongst men. Or you would both commit seppuku."

He was frozen in place the only movement an occasional twitch as he tried to comprehend the utter stupidity of this contract. 'Is this why Oyaji was trying to marry me off so quick?'

"Tell me, are you manly Ranma?" He gulped at the pleasant tone of his mother, asking such a question after telling him about this seppuku pact, carried a huge threat. Could he go through with such a ridiculous pledge just to uphold honor? He was planning to clear up the thing with the Tendo's, so he wasn't really putting a stain on his honor just delaying till he was cured.

"Um, yes?" Nodoka studied him like appraising a piece of meat. How could he say no to such a question.

"I suppose there is no reason to rush a judgement, and your father has much to answer for." He caught himself before he gave out a sigh of relief. 'She doesn't believe me.' His mother fiddled with the bundle showing the handle of a katana. "Tell me son how did you end up living here?"

"Ah, well." He paused unsure of whether or not to tell her about the alien origins of the rest of the house. "Well a few days ago Oyaji told me about some arranged marriage with the Tendo's. I knocked him out and I took off so I could go back to China and get cured, but I forgot my pack. Then I met Tenchi, and I ended up staying here working at the shrine for Katsuhito so I could save up the money."

Mentally patting himself on the back for telling a story that while technically true, did not give away much. His mom seemed to be taking the curse well, though there was that stupid seppuku pledge, and explaining about aliens would probably break her.

"Saotome-sama the bus is about to leave, that is if you had decided to return home." Ayeka declared walking into the room.

"I guess I should be getting home, I don't wish to intrude." He bit his lip, home, his actual real home. What was it like? He couldn't remember it.

Nodoka was torn between having her son return with her and leaving him at this house. It seemed as though he and Tenchi lived with three beautiful young women. Surely one or more were interested in her manly son. He certainly grew up well and was very handsome. She had always been surprised with how much he took after her.

The curse was, she paused, a concern. Certainly at first glance it violated the terms of the contract, since how could a man among men be part woman? But surely if he acted as a man should even while female then it could be alright. Though if her first meeting with her wayward child was any indication, she may have to supervise her child's behavior. Dressing in female clothing and acting the part was simply put, not manly.

But her son had a job here and that meant obligations, she wasn't that knowledgeable on the agreement with the Tendo's but if her husband had made such an obligation then her son was honor bound to uphold it. But that situation could be resolved once her son is free of his curse and her wayward husband is reprimanded for his actions. It had been nearly 3 months since his last letter on Ranma's progress, and now that she knew the reason she would have to find out what other things he was hiding from her.

"Please walk me out son." Standing she rewrapped the family honor blade and took the contract from Ranma. "I nearly forgot could you give me a pen and paper i'll write down our homes address so you can visit me often."

"Sure." Walking alongside her son she was happy to note how manly he looked. He moved well and she could feel a silent power coming from him. He quickly found the writing tools and she put down the address.

"Nerima? Isn't that way over in Tokyo?" Ranma stuffed the paper into a pocket and lead her from the home. It was a really beautiful location, close to the lake and adjacent to one of the more scenic shrines that she has visited over the course of the years. While she trusted her husband explicitly it never hurt to ask for divine assistance. She had become something of a traveler in the pairs absence.

"Yes, I believe the Tendo's live there as well, although I have never visited their home." She took a little longer than needed to walk to the bus as she enjoyed her sons company for the first time in 10 years. "I'm sorry that we must part ways again so soon son but your obligations to the shrine must come first. But you'll be sure to visit me soon?" Taking a que from her long gone days of youth she drew out her puppy dog eyes attack, unknowingly giving her son an idea about taking advantage of his female form.

"Of course, why wouldn't I? I'll come over as soon as I can." She was rewarded with her sons panicked voice.

"Good, and then we can figure out this whole Tendo engagement. But in the meantime, there are all these beautiful young women."

"Huh what about em?"

"Well i'm not getting any younger and well it would be very manly to give me some grand babies." She frowned when her son face faulted as it wasn't very manly.

"Heh heh i'll think about it."

"That's good, please remember to come visit me soon." She hugged her son again, being sure to squeeze a little harder to test how fit he was.

"I will." She released him and waved while getting on the bus. Finding an empty seat she sat down and stowed her sword safely next to her. 'Maybe my fears are unfounded, he certainly seems manly enough. But i'll have to wait and see.'

**X X X X X X**

Ranma stood watching as the small bus chugged back away from the shrine. At first he was in a word, ecstatic, about meeting his mother. Now he was something a bit less than neutral. His old man had signed the mother of all stupid contracts and included him in it. And just his rotten luck she had met him for the first time, not just as a girl but dressed as one. Mock pulling out his hair he turned and started to walk up the steps.

'And she's going to kill me if i'm unmanly, whatever the hell that means. Could Oyaji had come up with a worse contract? I can see it now, 'Son you got splashed by water and are a girl that's unmanly lets go seppuku time.' Stupid panda!'

He ignored Katsuhito who sat outside his living quarters sipping tea and went towards the training area. Right now he needed something, anything to take his mind fully off what had just happened.

Stopping in the center of the small wooden pegs he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Calming himself he felt Katsuhito's presence as the old man sat down on a large stone. Opening his eyes he hopped lightly upwards and landed on one of the pegs perfectly. Without hesitation he started to jump, flip, and cartwheel around the clearing. Landing easily on each peg he would land on his hands and feet briefly only to leap back into the air.

Losing himself in the complicated movement he acted on the instincts honed from years spent in aerial combat with his father. Performing kicks and punches in mid air he landed perfectly each time, till finally he grew bored and slowly wound down. Stopping on one of the pegs he let off one last calming breath.

"You are very skilled Ranma." Katsuhito added from his side and he snorted in no mood to deal with the old man. "But how do you do against actual opponents." Turning he caught a boken as it was thrown at him.

"What's this for?"

"Let's just have a little spar."

"I dun know, you're kinda old I wouldn't want ya to break a hip."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that."

**X X X X X X**

Tenchi was the one roped into finding Ranma once dinner was finished. Ayeka had said she saw Ranma walk up the shrine steps after the bus left. Lightly dragging his feet as he got to the top of the steps he heard a tell tale rapid fire clacks of boken combat coming from the training ground.

When he got there he was surprised to find Katsuhito and Ranma engaged in a high level spar. Katsuhito was on the defensive allowing the more movement orientated Ranma to strike at him. The priest easily parrying Ranma's blows and directing the boy in another direction if he over extended. Occasionally the old priest would step forward and attack Ranma who would usually bounce nimbly away or block the attack though usually receiving a light blow.

"Wow." He accidently spoke and Ranma looked over to where he was, only to receive a painful bop on the head from Katsuhito.

"What did you do that for old man?!" Ranma shouted and rubbed his head.

"You were distracted." Finally being on the outside of that particular punishment he couldn't hold in his laughter. "Tenchi what brings you here? Interested in some more advanced training?"

"No way I was just looking for Ranma, everybody was worried about him when he didn't come back for dinner."

"Oh man I missed dinner." The raven haired boy grumbled.

"Sasami-chan saved you some to heat up."

"She's a life saver, well I guess this is it for the night. Thank for the help."

"It was no problem Ranma, it was the best spar i've had in a while, we'll have to do it again sometime."

"I'll hold you to that." Ranma smirked and tossed his boken to Katsuhito who grabbed it from the air easily. Passing Tenchi he looked back. "You coming Tenchi?"

"Yea." He caught up quickly to Ranma, having no desire for Katsuhito to train with him like that. The pair had been almost a blur as they moved around the clearing. Not for the first time he thought about Ranma not being human. Now that he knew he was part alien he could understand his abilities being greater than his friends. But Ranma had no such natural enhancements yet still outclassed him easily.

"Oh man that old man hits hard." Ranma grumbled and rubbed his head.

"It's nice being able to watch that for a change."

"Ha, ha." He couldn't be that angry, that had been one of the better spars he's had in a while. Genma was certainly a challenge but always resorted to trickery and any weakness he could. Which made the old man that much harder to beat but once you stopped falling for his tricks he could be pathetically easy to beat when not serious.

Katsuhito on the other hand was surely a master of his art. And it was a difficult one to figure out. While defensive in nature it's attacks were hard to stop. Rubbing a particularly sore spot on his arm he revised that opinion. It's attacks hurt a lot and if you were in range they were near impossible to evade.

As a bonus to adding new moves to his arsenal, he felt much better now that he had gotten his mom off his mind for a little while. Pushing his body had always made him feel better and had been one of his few joys while on the road. Finding someone who shared a similar joy in the art, well that was just about the most wonderful thing that could happen. Too bad Tenchi seemed to think of training as a chore to be avoided and Ryoko didn't even bother with it. Which was too bad as she would be a hell of a sparring partner.

**X X X X X X**

Sitting up in the rafters as the rest of the group played a card game Ranma ate his food at a quick pace. There wasn't enough to fill him up especially after getting in his first good spar in nearly a week but it was better than nothing and he could always grab a snack in a little bit. The spar with Katsuhito had made him feel immeasurably better but now he had slipped back into mulling about his mother.

He just couldn't get it out of his head. His mother, the one person he had expected from conversations with others and any reading material he had read, that she would love and support him unconditionally. It was something that was a foreign concept. Genma's care had been sporadic, if he really needed it the old man would help, otherwise he was on his own.

Now from what others had said he had expected her to welcome him with open arms, something he had found with Tenchi and the girls from space. Aside from some of their eccentricities they treated him well and Sasami even thought of his curse as cool. He didn't much share that view but that feeling was far better than disgust.

Nodoka however turned out to be similar to Genma. Conditional was her love and if he didn't meet her standards she had a contract that allowed her to demand his life. Briefly he wondered if that contract would hold up since it looked like he had just finger painted on the thing. 'Maybe she's just acting the part and isn't serious about it. That would be just too convenient i'm sure any woman who would marry Oyaji would be as crazy as he is.'

Hitting himself in the side of the head for thinking something bad like that about his mom he nearly knocked himself off the rafter. 'Nah she can't be crazy, maybe it was some arranged marriage like Oyaji's deal with the Tendo's. That's gotta be it, no way someone as pretty as her would marry some butt ugly brute like Oyaji.'

"Hey Ranma get down here and play old maid with us." Ryoko barked from her place around the table.

"Hmm?" Twisting over the edge he found the group waiting for him. In a free spot lay an extra pile of cards. Smiling he hopped down, who knew it could be fun.

**X X X X X X**

The next morning found Ryoko hovering over the lake. She'd felt the completion of Ryo-ohki's egg sometime during the night, within an hour or so the tiny egg would hatch. 'I wonder what kind of favors I could get from Ranma for a trip to this China. Maybe I could get him to take Ayeka away from Tenchi. Nah I wouldn't make anyone suffer something that horrible.'

Hovering to a position directly over Ryo-ohki's egg she dropped down and phased through the water. Lightly gripping the egg she teleported out of the lake and back to the house. Landing on a couch she cradled the egg protectively in her lap. She enjoyed the feeling of contentment her partner was radiating through the mental link.

She didn't have to wait long as the soft pitter patter of feet coming down the stairs as Sasami and Ayeka came down. Turning she smirked at Ayeka's sour look, mornings seemed to be the easiest time to get on the princess' nerves.

"Are Tenchi-niichan and Ranma-niichan up yet?"

"They're up at the shrine already."

"Oh, and I was going to make a big breakfast for everyone." The girls pink eyes latched onto the egg sitting in her lap. "What's that?" She smiled as the young princess came over and inspected the black sphere.

"This thing?" The girls pig tails bobbed as her head shook violently the yes. "It was born this morning, isn't it adorable!" She hugged Ryo-ohki to her face and gushed. Ayeka looked disgusted and sat down as far from her as possible.

"Can I hold it?"

"Sasami get away from that thing don't touch it."

"It's heavy." Looking at her now empty hands she found that Mihoshi had snuck down and had taken the egg from her without her notice. 'Stupid bimbo how'd she do that?' Further conversation was cut off as the kitchen door slid open to reveal Ranma and Tenchi.

"Tenchi-sama you're back already, oh and Ranma-san too."

"Hey hey don't you all want to know about this egg?" She hastily took back the egg from the blonde idiot and gave it to Sasami to anger Ayeka.

"Sasami what are you doing?! Don't touch that!" She sighed happily at being able to predict Jurai royalty so well.

"But this is Ryoko-neechan's baby and it's about to be born and I definitely wanna see that. Who's the father Ryoko-neechan?"

"Well." She drawled out and got in close to whisper in the girls ear. "Tench is."

"Tenchi-niichans the father!" She hid her smirk as Ayeka looked to be ready to explode, Tenchi looked the cutest form of confused, Ranma just looked suspiciously between the two, and Mihoshi just looked absently at everyone.

"Wait what's going on?" Taking the egg she teleported next to Tenchi and handed the egg off to him.

"I'm so happy Tenchi that I get to bear your child. Now hold it tight, it won't be long." The assembled group moved in closer as the egg started to shake in Tenchi's hands.

"WAAA!" The boy cried out and threw the egg into the air when a furry leg kicked out one side of the egg. Sasami and Mihoshi's both gasped, Ryoko just smirked remembering that nothing short of a bus being driven into Ryo-ohki could harm her, Ranma on the other hand slid forward and dropped to his knees to catch the egg.

"Sheesh what were you just gonna let it drop?" The pigtailed youth said directly at her.

"I knew you'd get it." Waving off his concern she watched as Ryo-ohki shifted in the shell exposing her head and her giant ears flopping down it's side. Gathering up the cabbit she nuzzled it to her face. "That's a good little Ryo-ohki yes she is." She cooed at the cabbit.

"Isn't that your spaceships name?" She nodded to Tenchi and started to pet the drowsy cabbit.

"Your spaceship can have babies?"

"Sure it can, when my ship is destroyed it reproduces itself." Looking directly at Ayeka she smirked. "You must have been crazy to think it was Tenchi's child."

"What is it?" Ranma asked and poked the small creatures body.

"Best description is that she's my partner. But if you need to call her something I believe a cabbit would be the best name for her."

"Miyah." The furry ball of cute cried out softly causing Ranma to visibly shiver and stepped away. 'Hmm this could be fun.'

"What's the matter Ranma scared of a little cabbit." Stepping closer she handed the creature to the reluctant Ranma who held it at arms length under it's forearms. Ryo-ohki cocked her head to the side inquisitively at the new person in her life. Maybe he would be her friend.

"I'm not scared of nothing."

"Miya!" This time Ranma deposited Ryo-ohki on the couch and stepped back a fair distance.

Ranma looked down at the cabbit as Ryoko called it and repressed a shudder, the little thing sounded just like a cat. It didn't look anything like one but as soon as it's mouth opened it was making the same noises. At first he had thought it some kind of space rabbit, who knew what kind of weird creatures were out there after all.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Ryoko appeared behind him and meowed. Hanging from the rafters he glared down at the space pirate. His anger boiled as a few others giggled at him.

"Is Ranma scared of cats?" Ryoko playfully meowed again and floated up to him.

"No of course not don't be ridiculous." He scoffed and dropped to the floor a good distance from Ryo-ohki who looked at him confused over the whole situation.

"Meow!" Startled he jump and turned around to find a smirking Ryoko.

"Knock it off!"

"Ryoko stop it, Ranma obviously doesn't like it." He glared at Ryoko who floated by him towards Tenchi and made a light meowing noise as she passed causing him to shudder.

"Ranma-niichan why are you scared of Ryo-ohki?"

"It's nothing, I just don't like cats and she sounds like one." Trying not to look to wary he sat down next to Ayeka and as far from Ryo-ohki as possible. No one else seemed to be buying it and the attention was firmly on him.

"That looks like a little more than not liking something Ranma-san. Do you have a phobia?"

"A what? No I just really don't like cats."

"How can someone not like kitties?" He ignored the blonde and left not interested in being laughed at. His first remembered meeting with his mother was still at the forefront of his mind, and he still hadn't figured out how to feel about that.

"Ryoko that wasn't very nice." Tenchi admonished the space pirate who seemed nonplused about harassing Ranma. Around him were other comments echoing him.

"I was just playing with him, he shouldn't be so sensitive." The floating girl just crossed her arms and looked away from everyone.

"Maybe something really bad happened with Ranma-niichan and cats."

"It would certainly explain Ranma-san's behavior."

"Yes it certainly would." All eyes turned to regard Katsuhito who stood near a doorway looking out at Ranma as he walked along side the lake.

"Jiichan are you spying on us again?"

"Maybe a little."

"Katsuhito-sama what did you mean about it explaining Ranma-san's behavior?"

"I wasn't always a shrine priest, i've traveled a lot and seen many a martial artist. It's a rarity to see someone sane who has been through the Neko-ken training."

"Neko-ken, what's that Jiichan?"

"Something horrible, i'm sorry but it's not really my place to tell, in fact I shouldn't have said anything. If Ranma trusts you enough I believe he will tell you of the details in time." The priest approached a confused looking Ryo-ohki and scratched the confused cabbit under the chin. "More cute house guests I see. I guess i'll be off, I just stopped by to grab something." The group was wondering what it was till the priest turned around showing a plastic bag full of candy causing the group minus Mihoshi to groan.

**X X X X X X**

Across the lake and up a large tree, Ranma was crouched on the highest branch that would hold him. On the ground below him sat Ryo-ohki who had tracked him down. He stared down at the creature as it did the same back up at him. Even from the distance between the two he could see the creature had actual intelligence. Those small yellow eyes looked up at him with some kind of childish intellect behind them. Other than the noise it made he wouldn't be bothered by the rabbit like thing, but no, it had to make a noise like a cat of all things.

He was so engrossed in his staring contest with the newborn creature that he didn't notice Sasami walk up to where Ryo-ohki sat. He did notice when she grabbed the creature before looking up at him.

"Ranma-niichan why are you in a tree?"

"No reason." He huffed and turned his head away.

"Are you really scared of cats?" He didn't answer, he knew what peoples reaction to it were. They'd all laugh at him, probably even pile cats on him laughing as he tried not to fall into the neko-ken.

"Well you should come back, I didn't want to start breakfast without you." He did perk up at the mention of food and watched Sasami walk back to the house with Ryo-ohki perched on her head looking back at him.

"Damn you Oyaji." Growling he dropped down to the ground to head back.

**X X X X X X **

"Stupid leaves, stay in the trees." Angrily Ranma sweeped away another errant leaf that had fallen on to the steps. The trees were just beginning to turn and he knew he would be in for a long fall of sweeping.

Glancing down the steps he found Ryo-ohki still sitting and watching him. Someone had told the small creature that it shouldn't make noise around him and now it was following him all the while staring at him with those big eyes. 'I'm such a coward, running from something that isn't even as big as my head.' Setting down the broom he sat down on the steps.

"Hey come here." He motioned with his hand for the cabbit to come to him and it's ears instantly stood straight up with a look of pure joy on it's face. He shuddered as it gave off a happy meow and rushed up the steps as fast as it's tiny body could carry it.

"No noise, I think I can handle you so long as you don't make that noise." The creature leapt up into his lap and stared up at him. He repressed the urge to shove the cabbit off and take off up the steps. 'Not a cat, not a cat, not a cat, not a cat.' Tentatively he reached to pet the creature, it's whole body seeming to light up as if it was the best thing to ever happen to it. Gently petting the creatures head he could see it repressing a cry of joy.

"It's not that I don't like ya, well I don't really know ya, but it's just you sound like a cat, and I hate cats. Ya get it?" He watched the creature for some kind of recognition and was surprised to see that it actually understood him to some extent. Probably not understanding what a cat was but understanding that to make noise would cause problems. Smiling as Ryo-ohki kept quiet he continued to pet her.

"Alright you keep quiet, I gotta finish with these steps or the old man will have some punishment ready."

"Mi." Ryo-ohki was about to respond but then remembered that her new friend didn't like the way she sounded and so she decided to hop up onto his shoulder and nuzzle his cheek as an apology.

"Heh you're pretty smart, well if you can stay there and not make that noise go ahead." Nodding to her new friend she hung on as he lifted up off the ground and started to sweep again.

**X X X X X X**

"Sasami I really wish you wouldn't play with that." Ayeka paused "Thing." She said with as much disgust as she could put into the word. Ryo-ohki, the most wanted space ship in the galaxy was sitting there in some overly cute form, no doubt plotting some atrocity, and playing with her dear little sister. Her pink eyed sister ignored her again and continued with what she was doing.

"See Tenchi what a demon she is? Being so mean to poor little Ryo-ohki-chan." She grimaced as Ryoko took advantage of the ships small form to make her appear bad in front of Tenchi.

"How can you hate her Ayeka she's so cute!" She expected the blonde Galaxy Police officer to gush over the little monster.

"Yea Ayeka-san she isn't really that same Ryo-ohki." She wanted to cry when Tenchi agreed with the others. At the very least she could count on Ranma who was deathly afraid of the monsters cry.

"Ranma-san you believe me don't you?"

"Meh not really, long as she's quiet she's alright." The world could end for all she cared, leaving the room in a huff she ignored her sisters protests that she was being ridiculous. It had been a, trying day. First the return of Ryo-ohki, then finding out that Ranma had been put through something that left him with an irrational fear of cats, and now the small form of the most horrible space ship ever was winning over the household.

"Meow?" Ranma nearly jumped up to the ceiling when Ryo-ohki voiced her concern over Ayeka's temperament.

"You alright Ranma?" Taking a few calming breaths Ranma relaxed as Ryo-ohki looked at him sadly.

"Yea i'm fine." He'd been fine all day with Ryo-ohki but anytime the creature opened it's mouth it sent him up a wall, tree, or anything that was on hand. He felt bad about it, the cabbit seemed genuinely hurt by his actions. At least he had spent the entire day male, a surprise on it's own, which probably just mean he would be spending time tomorrow being splashed constantly.

"Me." Again Ryo-ohki caught herself and hopped across the table to where her friend was intent on apologizing. Accidentally knocking over Ayeka's glass of water which spilled over Ranma. She stopped and stared curiously at her friend who now looked red and female instead of black and male. It was confusing but now that she new her friend could change shape too it made her feel even better about being his or her friend.

"Oh great I knew it was too good to spend one whole day as a guy." Her now red female friend grumbled.

"Miyah?" She tried to keep her call from being too loud but the odd events had startled her.

"EEEK!" Even with her attempt to sound unthreatening her friend almost teleported to hug Tenchi's head and crouch on his shoulders. Her other male friend had some red liquid trailing down from his nose strangely enough.

"Get off my Tenchi!" Little sparks of red played along Ryoko's skin as she glared at the redhead.

"Ranma-neechan I think you broke Tenchi-niichan." Ranma seemed to have recovered from her shock and now noticed that Tenchi had fallen over limply and they were now both on the floor. Dislodging herself she slid back and sat down a respectable distance away. Grumbling over the injustice of a complete day of male being taken from her she adjusted her pant draw string to fit her smaller waist.

"Sheesh why am I the only guy who isn't a pervert? Hey Tenchi snap out of it." Nudging the boy with her foot she got no response.

"Um, what happened?" All eyes turned to Mihoshi who vocalized both her's and Ryo-ohki's confusion.

It took fifteen minutes to explain to Mihoshi about the curse. And from the glazed look in her eye Ranma didn't think she actually understood what was going on or if she did just went through it with childish detachment.

"This is fun no matter how many times I do it." The blonde said gleefully and poured cold water over his head again.

"Great i'm happy for you." She shook off the hot water stream that suddenly poured down. Briefly he wondered what the limit was before the curse would stop working.

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

Yes I believe Nodoka was serious about the seppuku contract. No I don't think she would just rush in, view something that was unmanly and demand his death. That would be a bit much to be believed. With all the unmanly things that Ranma did while hiding from her in the manga that gave her a little more reason to be obsessive over him. She's somewhat understanding about it so long as Ranma is manly.

The reason I brought her in so early was because I needed to give Ranma a reason to visit Nerima and the Tendo's. Since Ranma wants nothing to do with Genma aside from clearing up the engagement so he doesn't have a stain on his honor. Genma is an accomplished martial artist in his own right and Ranma wouldn't want to risk open combat with him so staying as far from Nerima is his game plan. It wasn't till about halfway through the manga that Genma's skill wasn't enough to match Ranma's and being the one to raise Ranma he would have a good handle on his sons abilities.

Miko - shrine maiden, i'm not going to go in depth for it but check out the wikipedia article if you want more info. For information on the clothing at the bottom of the background section they have links to both. For an actual picture of what Ranma-chan would look out check out the cover of the chapter "Trouble with Ema's" which is chapter 352 found in book 33 part 8.

Holy crap this was an ambitious chapter, bringing in Mihoshi, Nodoka, and Ryo-ohki. I tried to throw in a lot of references to the Ranma manga, a cookie for someone who can come up with all of em.

On the neko-ken, Ranma is petrified of cats, but it takes a hell of a lot of exposure before he will go into it if it's against his will. Like when it was first brought in it took a room filled with cats plus a tiger to actually do it. I can't really see any reason why he should go into it over the course of my story but it would be fun to have him use Ryoko as a chew toy.

A note about Mihoshi, i'm not sure how I want to portray her. Since in the original she isn't an idiot just really ditzy. Yet in the other incarnations she's pretty much a total moron. Perhaps i'll just go for somewhere in the middle. I'm still not sure about bringing in Kiyone. I suppose she is needed to an extent since Mihoshi fubared her ship but at the same time it would become very troublesome trying to keep track of all the people and i'm not very good with groups as it is.


	5. No Need for Trips Beginning

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

This chapter just snowballed and I couldn't find a spot I wanted to stop it at so I chopped it into two parts. I'll post the second part in a day or two.

**X X X X X X**

"This came for you today Ranma." Looking up from where she was wringing out her shirt Ranma took a post card from Nobuyuki. Ironically enough it had a panda on the front chewing on a piece of bamboo with more lined up behind it.

She hadn't seen much of Tenchi's father since the move of their house. Each day the man had to commute nearly two hours each way and worked long hours. She could admire his work ethic but still the guy looked like he was ready to die when he walked in the door and usually went immediately to bed. No way was she ever going to get a job like that.

"Thanks." The cause for her wet and female state was one spiky cyan haired space pirate who she had finally gotten to spar with her. Or in reality Ryoko trying to murder her, since she had thrown water on the pirate in retaliation for her continued use of 'meow's' to harass her.

The entire house had gotten into a comfortable rut after the latest guest Ryo-ohki had come to stay. Her and Tenchi would work around the shrine and do odd jobs that Katsuhito seemed too lazy to do. Her own incompetence with growing anything prevented her involvement with the large fields that Tenchi had to till. She would have to find out who the shrine was dedicated to and thank them. While the work wasn't something she hated, it was the regular requirement to haul around pails of water that made the job unappealing. Besides she had worked at shrines before and it was nostalgic to continue to do so.

Most of her jobs involved the shrine itself or those horrible steps, which she had quickly come to hate. Sure they were an incredible work out if you went up or down them quickly. The problem came from cleaning them. And with an endless supply of leaves falling down on them slowly, it was a constant job. Nothing but busy work, and if it was one thing that she hated, it was doing a job repeatedly for no real gain. On the plus side she had gotten in a couple more good spars with the old priest Katsuhito. It wasn't much, but it helped keep her sanity.

Sasami, Mihoshi, and to a lesser extent Ayeka did small chores around the house or would occasionally head into town to get some supplies and enjoy the different world. With two bottomless pits for stomachs, her and Ryoko, as well as all the others, the food bill was rapidly climbing. Ryoko on the other hand did little unless it was related to Tenchi and even then it was a selfish pleasure for herself. Most of Ranma's time at work was now spent thinking of ways to annoy the space pirate.

Shaking her shirt a few times to get the wrinkles out she was reminded of the last time she had taken the shirt completely off to get the water out. And when she thought last time she meant last time. The verbal assault and physical intimidation from Ayeka with those log things was enough to make her rethink having a little modesty. Funnily enough she seemed rather happy if she walked around without a shirt as a guy. Shrugging away the inconsequential detail as just another oddity of females, she read the post card.

_'Son_

_I know you have obligations to the shrine but I would like for you to come visit me for a week. I'm sure you would like to see our home once again and it will give us time to visit the Tendo's and get this agreement situation worked out._

_I look forward to seeing you._

_Mother.'_

'It would be nice to see home.' And it would get her away from the steps for a week. On the other side, she would have to visit the Tendo's and that would mean putting up with Oyaji and his scheme. Though now that her mother knew of the curse he may not be in such a rush to marry her off to some stranger. If worse comes to worse I can always come back here right away. 'Getting away from stupid Oyaji has been the best thing I ever did.'

"Ranma-neechan can you go get Tenchi-niichan? Dinner is almost ready."

"Sure Sasami." Another trip up the steps awaited her. She smirked evilly at the thought of Tenchi receiving some advanced training. She hadn't caught the two of them, but whatever they were doing meant Tenchi returned home for the night looking worn out and ready to collapse and always clutching the tenchi-ken like a life preserver.

**X X X X X X**

"That's enough for today Tenchi."

Resisting the urge to fall to the ground Tenchi wavered on his feet and tried to keep his balance. After his spars with Ranma, Katsuhito had stepped up his own training. Specifically on using the tenchi-ken, it had taken several sessions but he'd finally been able to call upon the blade of blue light. His current problem was keeping the blade alive and using any of the other abilities that he supposedly had. Ayeka didn't seem to have the same problem, but then she was probably trained in using hers from an early age.

"Hey, what's up?" Taking in the slightly damp form of Ranma as she walked into the clearing. Purposely he kept his eyes locked on hers not wanting to look down at her clingy shirt. Ranma was, very open with her body, but seemed to take offense if she was leered at. The opposite of Ryoko who was just as open but seemed to grow more bold the longer someone looked at her.

"Just some training Ranma, Tenchi's such a beginner, I wouldn't want to bore you with the details."

"Sure sure, Sasami said to come get you for dinner."

"Ah, i'll go get cleaned up, thanks Ranma." Keeping his eyes set above Ranma's shoulder level, he passed her as she went to speak with Katsuhito.

"Something you wanted to talk about Ranma?"

"Yea uh my mom asked me to come stay with her for a week. So I guess i'm asking for a week off. That alright?"

"Of course, the shrine isn't going to be going anywhere, and who am I to deny a child to visit his mother. But to tell you the truth I will miss my dear Ranma-chan." Ranma gave off a snort and turned to walk away ignoring the priests teasing. She really needed to figure out some way to rattle the old pervert. But for now something far more important was on her mind, food!

**X X X X X X**

Ranma chuckled as Ryo-ohki chewed on a carrot that was nearly as big as she was. He wasn't sure where the cabbit put it all but she seemed happy to munch away on carrots all day. Sasami next to him giggled and mirrored his feelings. Ayeka the next person over from Sasami had grown a grudging acceptance of Ryo-ohki. He couldn't understand her hatred, even if it was basically the same ship that helped wipe out half of Jurai's fleet and whatever other damage, this one was obviously just like a little kid.

"Ranma what did you talk with Jiichan for?"

"I just asked for a week off. My mom wants me to visit."

"You're leaving?" He gulped at the hurt tone of Sasami and the way her eyes started to tear up.

"It's just for a week. I promise i'll be back." It was a little too quick of a response but Sasami stopped with her tear attack.

"I'm happy you found you mother Ranma-san."

"Uh thanks Ayeka." Truthfully he wasn't really looking forward to it. It would mean he would have to confront Genma and deal with the Tendo's. All the while he had to be manly or face a demand for seppuku. What he was looking forward to was getting to know his mom. And that was enough for him to take her up on the offer.

"When are you leaving?" Ryoko was almost hanging off of Tenchi but had pried herself away to actually talk to him.

"I was going to head out early tomorrow, gotta go all the way to Tokyo since she lives in a ward there."

"Where's that?"

"It's a long way to the East from here."

"Well since Ranma is going away let's have a little going away party!" Ryoko announced and teleported away for a second. When she came back she was holding several small cups and a couple bottles of sake.

"How did you get that?"

"I went into town and grabbed a few things from some shop."

"I never gave you any money."

"So?" Pointing to herself. "Space pirate remember?"

"Gah you can't just go and steal things."

"Well doesn't anyone want some?" Seeing the blank to angry looks directed towards her she chose to grab Tenchi instead. "Fine me and Tenchi will just go share."

"Wa wait Ryoko! I don't think." Tenchi flailed and tried to get away before Ayeka grabbed him.

"Get away from Tenchi-sama you thief."

"Princess too? Well I guess that's alright, we'll need someone to serve." With that the trio were teleported away.

"Anyone up for a card game?" Part of the routine they had fallen into was staying away from the fights between Ayeka and Ryoko. Ayeka could hold her own and Ryoko never really made an attempt to truly hurt the princess. So wisely he chose to stay away from the feuding females, lest they turn their attentions his way.

**X X X X X X**

"Mrr?"

"I think this is my moms house." Scratching Ryo-ohki's head as the cabbit sat on her shoulder, she pushed the doorbell on the side of the large door. How the tiny creature could help her out if she got in trouble she had no clue. While saying good bye to everyone, Ryoko had literally thrown the cabbit to him, at the time, and said she could bring him back if he got in trouble. Truthfully she was happy to have the company, after years of just traveling with Genma being completely alone or with large groups generally set her on edge. Soon enough the large outside door slid open revealing her mother wearing a white kimono with a flower pattern.

"Uh, hi mom." After several seconds of hesitation Nodoka finally recognized her.

"Oh son come on in." Quickly ushered inside of the home she dropped off the suit case that had been modified into a backpack. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Sorry I couldn't call ya."

"It's perfectly alright. How is it you change back again?"

"Hot water."

"Have a seat i'll go get you some."

"Sure." Kneeling at the circular low table she looked around at the simple traditional styled room. It was a big place and she wondered how Genma or Nodoka could afford such a thing. Ryo-ohki was staying close but looked around curiously at everything.

"Here you go son." Nodoka returned and handed her a large glass of steaming water. Slowly upending it over her head she returned to her birth form. As always Ryo-ohki watched the change with her complete attention. Ranma didn't really understand the cabbit's increased attention to himself after it had learned about his curse but at least Ryo-ohki didn't call him neechan. It was funny, she was Ryoko's partner but spent nearly all her time around him or Sasami.

"What is that son?" Nodoka asked as she took her seat across from him.

"This is Ryo-ohki, she's a friends, well kinda like a pet. Ouch." Shaking his hand after getting a quick bite from the cabbit. "Hey don't get mad at me, you are kinda like a pet." Ryo-ohki ignored him and hopped over to inspect Nodoka.

"It doesn't seem that friendly."

"Nah she's really friendly, just doesn't like that I called her a pet cause she's really smart."

"Oh." Letting the cabbit sniff her hand the creature lit up and quickly hopped into her lap to be petted. "What is it?"

"I think Ryoko called her a cabbit."

"She's certainly very cute." He sighed as Nodoka started to gush over the happy cabbit. "I'm surprised I haven't seen a cabbit before."

"Just make sure you watch her around carrots. She's addicted to them." Groaning as the cabbit started to look around quickly for carrots.

"That reminds me I almost forgot to start dinner. Well it's a good thing you came early so I can make enough for two."

"Food?"

**X X X X X X**

"This is your room son." Looking around the barren room he resisted the urge to ask why it was empty. "Most of the toys you played with when you were young are in the closet." Ryo-ohki hopped forward and started to investigate the room.

"Heh i'm surprised Oyaji got me anything." And after looking around his old room he didn't doubt that he had very little growing up. It was just an empty room with a closet.

"Who?"

"Oyaji."

"Oh your father, I had forgotten about him."

"Huh?" He was lucky to draw her attention to him as Ryo-ohki decided to phase through the closet door to view what was inside.

"That reminds me we'll need to visit the Tendo's. I'll go give them a call." Without looking back she headed off.

"Oh man, she is kinda crazy." Slapping his forehead he slid the closet door open to find Ryo-ohki digging through a box. "And you, you shouldn't just walk through stuff like that in front of my mom." Ryo-ohki just looked at him oddly, clearly not understanding.

"Alright well let's see what we have here." Sitting down he started to rifle through the different boxes. Nearly screaming when he picked up a small stuffed cat he threw it away with disgust. Finding nothing of interest he tidied up and purposely buried the cat with as many boxes as he could.

"Ranma dear I just got done talking with a wonderful young woman named Kasumi. Seems they've been waiting for you to come since two weeks ago."

"Wonder what kind of sob story Oyaji gave now."

"She said to come over tomorrow for lunch with her family."

"What about Oyaji?"

"Oh i'm sure he'll be there too." Following his mother as she walked downstairs he eyed a photograph hanging on the wall. In it sat Nodoka on a chair in a very formal white kimono, her hair color was far closer to that of his girl forms. Behind her in his own black one was Genma, who looked to be just finishing his descent into baldness. In Nodoka's lap sat a small black haired child. Both parents looked incredibly happy but he didn't look at all happy. In fact his younger self looked horrified to be getting his picture taken or at being held by Nodoka, he couldn't decide which.

**X X X X X X**

"Ranma dear you really should be more careful around water." Continuing to grumble about stupid little old ladies who douse the sidewalk for no reason. She trudged alongside her mother as they walked towards the Tendo home. Wearing her currently best clothing of a red tai chi shirt and black pants she resisted the urge to shake her head which would have thrown Ryo-ohki off. In the back of her mind a small voice said that she could score a lot of free eats if she went around with the cabbit on her head.

"We'll just have to ask for some hot water as soon as we get there."

"It's not like I ask to get splashed all the time, stupid curse, stupid Oyaji, stupid China."

"Be that as it may you should strive to spend as little time in that form as possible." So long as her son acted manly the body did not matter. It was simply unnerving to see her son turned daughter in a body that looked like an exact replica of her own when she was 16. All except for those bright blue eyes, if she was 16 they would be seen as twins.

"Well here we are." Next to the door rested a sign proclaiming 'Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.' Stepping through a large open gate and walking down a small stone path to the two story traditionally styled home Ranma found her unease growing. Off to the right side of the house was a moderately sized dojo. Small trees and shrubs dotted the courtyard, which looked nice enough. Knocking heavily on the door they waited.

"I'll get it!" A young girls voice carried from around the left side of the building and the door slid open to reveal a taller girl with brown hair cut into a page boy style. She was wearing a sky blue kimono and purple obi.

"Hello miss Tendo I am Saotome Nodoka and this is my, child, Ranma. Kasumi invited us over for lunch."

"Come in come in, we've been expecting you." Stepping through the doorway and depositing their shoes Ranma couldn't help but notice the girls calculating gaze.

Nabiki herself studied the girl in front of her. Genma had been very limited on what information he gave out about Ranma's looks when they had taken a trip to Okayama. What he had mostly talked about was Ranma's boy form. Then had just said he got shorter and had red hair for his girl form. They had expected someone very plain not someone almost stunningly beautiful. 'Might have to go get my camera.'

The Saotome's followed Nabiki as the went to the left and rounded a corner. Large sliding doors on the left of the hall opened to the outside and on the right opened into a tea room that they now entered.

Inside sat two other girls at a table, one was about as tall as her guy form and wore a purple dress and tan blouse. Her light brown hair was draped over her right shoulder and tied with a white ribbon. She was smiling pleasantly and instantly reminded Ranma of Sasami.

The other had dark blue hair that was pulled back by a similar ribbon. Wearing a pale yellow karate gi, she appeared to be slightly sweaty and looked at her with an odd mix of curiosity and agitation. The last occupant to the room was a tall man in a dark grey karate gi. He had long black hair and a small mustache. His smile seemed a little forced but he looked mostly harmless.

The girl who had answered the door quickly took a seat between the other two at the table leaving mother and 'son' to sit down at the opposite of the trio. Ryo-ohki hopped down from her head to Ranma's lap and was looking at the four people in front of her with curiosity. Ranma herself was trying to figure out where Genma was.

"It's nice to meet you Saotome-san, I am Tendo Soun and these are my daughters, Kasumi the oldest at 19, Nabiki is 17, and Akane is 16."

"Hello Tendo-san, thank you for inviting us to your home. I am Nodoka and this is Ranma, could you perhaps spare some hot water for my son. I was told that you understand his unique condition."

"Of course, Kasumi could you get it?"

"Right away father."

"So where's Oyaji at?" Ranma blurted out, not knowing where Genma was hiding was getting old. "He's gotta be round here somewhere."

"Ranma do not be so rude, i'm sure your father is indisposed if he is here."

"Sorry mom."

"Haha it's alright, your father is just off on a short training trip."

"So he's hiding as a panda somewhere?" She smirked when the guy jerked and she suddenly found herself hit over the head by a piece of wood. "Ite." Turning she found an obese looking panda glaring at her and holding a sign.

#Mind your manners boy!#

"Hey Oyaji, how ya been?"

"Ranma why are you talking to the panda?"

"Well ya know how I turn into a girl, Oyaji turns into this ugly thing."

#How could you go to her boy?# Flip #Are you suicidal?!#

"What are ya talking bout you old fool? Oh wait that seppuku pledge, which reminds me i've been meaning to give you something for that." Depositing Ryo-ohki on the table she jumped up and booted him out into the yard to land in a koi pond. "Too bad he was already a panda."

"Here's the hot water Ranma-san." Coming back to the world she found Kasumi handing her a large glass of steaming water.

"Thanks." Dumping it over her head she adjusted her pants not that the top no longer needed to be so tight. Outside Genma had shook himself off and lumbered inside to sit next to Soun as if nothing had happened.

"I'll be right back with lunch." Kasumi took the glass back from him and left the room. 'Definitely a Sasami type.'

"Ooh he is cute in both forms, and he's got a really cute pet."

"Huh?" Sitting back down next to his mom he chose to glare at Genma who seemed uncaring to his pandafication.

"Tell me son do you know of the arrangement between our two families?"

"Something about an arranged marriage right?" Kasumi returned and sat down several dishes on the table. Choosing to ignore his stomach for once so he didn't miss anything he kept his eyes off the appetizing dishes in front of him.

"Yes, you've met my daughters, pick one and she'll be your fiance."

"Yea bout that, see i'm kinda busy with trying to cure my curse, this aint no time for fiancées."

#Stupid boy!# FLIP #This is a matter of honor!# Another sign was hastily scribbled on. #AND MANLINESS!#

"It would be most manly to have a fiancée Ranma." Burying his face in his hands he realized that his earlier worries were justified.

"Why would we want to marry him he's a couple all by himself." Bristling at the comment he glared at Akane.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"You heard me."

"I think Akane would be the best choice." Kasumi and Nabiki had moved to be behind a glaring Akane.

"They're made for each other."

"Kasumi? Nabiki? What are you talking about?"

"Well you hate boys right?"

"That's right! It's fortunate that Ranma is half girl."

"I am not half girl, it's a curse!"

"Son please calm down." His anger fizzled when Nodoka laid a hand on his shoulder and Ryo-ohki nuzzled his hand.

"This was decided before you were born boy. You are honor bound to marry a Tendo and carry on the dojo."

"What the? Oyaji when did you turn back?"

"He's right son, and as an honorable pledge between two families, upholding it is the manly thing to do." Trying to calm himself down he ignored the group as they started to eat, ignoring both his and Akane's displeasure at the engagement. In fact he didn't eat at all, he suddenly felt ill. His life was just decided for him. Not by just his father who he had expected such from but by his mother who he had trusted to at least see how stupid his old man was.

Drawn to his hands that Ryo-ohki was pulling on he found the cabbit looking worriedly up at him. He had to smile at that, two weeks ago if he would have come in to this place with Genma he would have went along with the engagement just so that he didn't have to leave another place. Now though he had some place to go back to with people who did in a strange way cared for him. Finding someone poking him he looked up at Akane who was looking at him with a really tired expression.

"Come on we need to talk." Standing he put Ryo-ohki on his shoulder and followed Akane out to the dojo.

"I'm sorry that I snapped at you like that."

"Ya should be." He ignored the girl who was suddenly growling. She was kinda cute but if her earlier outburst was any indication she was just a violent tomboy. If he wanted to go after one of those he would try for Ryoko.

"Well I just don't like the idea of this engagement."

"Neither do I. Why do you think I left Oyaji. If it wasn't for mom and Oyaji's pledge I wouldn't even be here till after I got cured. Even then it would just be to break the engagement, which is why I came today. You can tell how well that worked out."

"What pledge?"

"Oh, well so he could take me on the training trip he signed a pledge that unless I was raised to be manly, we would commit seppuku."

"That's, that's just absurd."

"Tell me about it, and i'm pretty sure she's serious about it." Scratching Ryo-ohki's head as she suddenly started to nuzzle his cheek he ignored Akane and studied the dojo.

Akane wasn't ignoring him though as she thought about some way to get out of the engagement. This boy was supposed to marry one of them, now her, and take over the dojo, her dojo. Perhaps if she could prove herself superior to him in the art they could break the engagement since he was supposed to take over. On the other hand if that seppuku pledge was true she didn't want someone's death on her hands. But then she also didn't want to marry some half man. Though his odd pet was really cute and he wasn't that bad looking. Too bad he was a boy and not a man like Tofu-sensei.

"Well how bout a little match?"

"Hmm?"

"Well if you're supposed to take over the dojo you should be more skilled than me right?" Ranma looked the girl over once.

"I guess." Prying Ryo-ohki off he set her down. "Don't go running off, Ryoko would kill me if I lost ya."

"Mrr." One of the few sounds the cabbit could make without him freaking out was his answer as the cabbit nodded and hopped off to the side. He could handle soft miyah's but anything loud and unexpected set him off.

"What is that thing anyways?"

"She's called a cabbit." Standing across from Akane in the center of the dojo he just waited with his hands behind his back.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." He didn't make a sound as the girl proclaimed her superiority and took her own stance. Waiting patiently he was rewarded with her growing ire. 'First rule of Saotome Anything Goes Martial Arts, use the opponents weakness to your advantage.' Akane's anger certainly fit that motto.

"Fine if you won't attack I will!"

Leaping upwards to avoid the kick he seemed to hover at the top of his jump before landing in front of the shocked girl. Never moving his feet he twisted easily out of the way of several punches before bending at the waist to avoid a kick. Returning to a standing position he repressed a smirk at the girl who was now almost out of breath. 'No control or conditioning, not much speed, no threat at all. And she's supposed to be the best one here?'

"Fine here I come!"

Backing away as she came at him with a hay maker he found himself close to the wall. Waiting till the last second he jumped into the air as her fist bashed through the wall. Pushing off from the wall he twisted in mid air to land behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. He tried to smile in the most friendly way possible, who knew what kind of violence she would try after losing. Instead she just slowly turned around and look at him with horror.

"We could keep going if you want."

"I lost."

"Huh?"

"It's nothing." He shared a confused look with Ryo-ohki as the girl left in a huff.

"What was that about?" The response was a shrug from the cabbit. Ayeka was definitely stronger, even Sasami was kilo for kilo probably stronger. He had seen the small girl lift a large pot almost as big as herself when it was full. Obviously the Jurai bloodline carried perks.

Motioning for the cabbit to follow he walked back to the tea room and found everyone missing. Heading towards the only sounds he found the kitchen and Kasumi at work cleaning up after lunch.

"Uh hi, Kasumi-san, you wouldn't happen to know where my mom went?"

"She's in the spare bedroom talking with our fathers." That got his attention, who knew what lies his old man would tell. Only thing he could be sure of was that he wouldn't say something about him being unmanly. When the old mans life was on the line he would do anything to keep his skin.

"I'm sorry Ranma-kun but i've never seen a pet like that, what's it called?" Receiving a small nudge from Ryo-ohki he glared at the cabbit. He hadn't even said she was a pet here what did she have to get angry at him for.

"She's a cabbit. Her name is Ryo-ohki."

"What an odd name, but she's very cute, i'm surprised they aren't a popular pet with how well behaved she is." Kasumi knelt and gave the happy cabbit a few pats on the top of the head.

"Probably because she'll eat you out of house and home. Especially carrots, she can't get enough."

"Would you like a carrot Ryo-ohki-chan?" Ranma sighed at the incredibly happy looking cabbit as Kasumi dug out a carrot and offered it, only to blink at her hand that was now empty. "Oh my."

**X X X X X X **

"Please explain this engagement to me Tendo-san."

"You see Nodoka-san, me and Saotome-kun created this honorable agreement back while training together. It was agreed that should we have children we would have them wed in order to unite our two families and carry on the schools."

"I see." Idly fingering her katana she debated about this. There was no question that this was a matter of family honor. Ranma being her child meant that it was his obligation to fulfill it, regardless of the odd situation concerning her child. It would also prove his manliness.

"Do you agree that the engagement should continue?"

"I agree, but I feel that to rush it would not be in the best interests for our children. My son seems to be rather free spirited and I doubt he could be forced into anything against his will."

"Of course we would never rush them right Saotome-kun?"

"Of course not dear."

"Ranma has been staying at a shrine in Okayama, there is a small matter of the debt that he has accrued while getting supplies, that will need to be taken care of for him to move away."

"That can be taken care, should be no problem at all."

"Wonderful, and since Ranma has been entered into school here at Furinkan would you be so gracious as to house him till their relationship has begun?"

"We would be happy to have your son stay with us. But what about Saotome-kun?"

"It wouldn't do for my sons training to become lax."

"It'll be just like old times Tendo-kun."

"Well perhaps it is time to get back to the children. I have a dinner engagement that I need to prepare for later tonight."

"It was wonderful meeting you Saotome-san."

"The same for you Tendo-san."

**X X X X X X**

Eating some left overs with Ryo-ohki, Ranma kept glancing at Nabiki out of the corner of his eyes. The girl was watching him like Ryoko when she want to play with him. It was very unnerving and even the ever friendly Ryo-ohki wanted nothing to do with the girl.

"So Ranma-kun, what are your living plans?"

"Um well i'm staying with my mom for the week then i'm heading back."

"Back where?" He had been hoping she wouldn't ask for that much info. Then again since his mom seemed set on this stupid engagement she would no doubt tell Genma and it wouldn't matter if he told Nabiki.

"The Masaki shrine, i'm working there."

"Odd, your dad asked me to register you for Furinkan last night."

"He what?!"

"Don't worry, i'm not stupid, though I did set you up as a guest for the next week so you can hang around school and go to some classes." Though she didn't add that she had kept the money Genma had given her rather than paying for a schooling that might not even happen.

"Thanks, I think."

"Your welcome, this was just a freebie though, call it a gift for my future brother in law."

"I'm not getting married."

"Never know." Nabiki smirked and left, there would be plenty of time to get money from Ranma later. His cursed form was very pretty, even in ill fitting boy clothes. She felt a momentary pang of jealousy, but squashed it and thought of the possibilities for pictures. Pictures of Akane had become a bit stale of late and only Kuno was really buying at a steady pace. In her place came in Nodoka who sat down and gave Ryo-ohki a few moments of attention.

"Son how would you feel about staying here for a while?" He paused while inhaling food. No he did not want to stay here, he wanted to leave and head back to the shrine. The longer he stayed here the longer he was kept from China and a cure.

"I thought I was supposed to stay at our house for the week."

"Well, i've discussed it with Soun and we feel that you should stay here to be close to your fiancée while you two build your relationship."

"I'm not marrying her."

"Son it's not very manly to walk out on your obligations. I understand that you have a job with the shrine but this agreement comes first. We can pay back the amount you've accrued getting supplies and you can move in here or at our home."

"Mom I gotta go back, I promised."

"Of course you can visit." He buried his face in his hands. She didn't understand, they were his friends and he'd been forced to leave all the ones he had before. He wasn't about to start doing it again just for some fiancée that he didn't even want. And they were aliens! He could even end up exploring the galaxy, how could he possibly just leave that opportunity to take over some run down dojo. He didn't have much of a plan for the rest of his life but living at this place just because of his Oyaji was not in it.

"Your pack is upstairs in the guest room. I'll come over tomorrow with the rest of your clothing. I'll have to be heading home, I have plans later that I need to prepare for. We can spend some time together tomorrow after school, make me proud son." Nodoka hugged him for a moment then left him.

In shock he watched her leave. She had just left him here, he was supposed to spend time with her at their home not have a day, then shove him over some place else. Looking down at Ryo-ohki who was looking at him just as confused about the situation. Snapping out of their trance when Akane shuffled into the tea room.

"Oh Ranma, the furo is open if you want." He blinked at her odd tone. Before she had been openly challenging with everything she had said, now she was almost subdued.

"I'm fine."

"Alright." The girl walked back out. 'Jeez what an odd girl.'

"Boy." Resisting the urge to strike his father who had sidled up next to him with his arm around his shoulder. "You should be nicer to your fiancée."

"She's not my fiancée. What kind of lies were you telling mom anyways?"

"I tell only the truth." Using a finger to adjust his glasses Ranma resisted another urge to retch as his father tried to pull off the wizened sensei routine.

"Like I said, lies."

"Ranma." He was grabbed by the front of his shirt and pulled to his feet, sneering at his father he wondered what the old man would do now. "You whine like a girl!"

"WAAAA!" Thrown out the door he landed heavily in the koi pond. Sputtering as she came to the surface she glared at the old man. "Whatcha do that for ya stupid old man!?"

"It's high time I punished you for slacking off and running away." Jumping from the pond she landed on a rock to tighten her pants. "Oh how i've suffered in your absence!"

"Yea right Oyaji, you may like being a panda but I don't like being a girl! And the only thing suffering is the floor from supporting your fat ass!"

"Such an ungrateful son I have. Were you not ready to lay down your life for the sake of the art?"

"My life yes, my manhood was another story!"

**X X X X X X**

"Stupid panda, throwing me in the pond, why I outta." Settling for just growling over the injustice of having to take a second bath for the day she prepared to disrobe when her giant panda of a father lumbered through the door to the changing room. Ryo-ohki who was following her had to hop out of the way as Genma nearly stepped on the cabbit.

"Whatta you think your doing Oyaji?"

#Taking a bath boy# FLIP #Whats it look like?#

"You can wait your turn you fat panda." While first getting cursed her father had stayed far away while she bathed. That had quickly ended and the panda had become a regular at the lakes and streams she had used on their way back to Japan.

For the past two weeks it was different. No one else bathed with her. Terminally shy Tenchi would never think to come in lest he walk in on Ranma-chan, and she certainly couldn't bath with the females. So she had ended up in limbo, and with how crowded the house was it was nice to be able to just sit and relax without anyone else around. And right now she needed some time alone.

#What's the matter boy?# FLIP #Turning into a girl?#

"No you idiot, I just hate the smell of wet panda." Booting her father, rather hard, out the door she slid it closed and proceeded with removing her clothes.

**X X X X X X**

Camped out in a tree opposite the entrance to the Tendo home, Ranma gave Ryo-ohki a few pats on the head as the hyper active cabbit watched people pass by on the street. He didn't really like this place. All the activity of the suburb around them kept drawing his attention and distracting him. It was nice to come into the city every once and a while but he really preferred to be out in nature. It was one of the reasons that he really liked the Masaki shrine.

Another was that the people there weren't looking for anything from him. He had his duties at the shrine and aside from that could do what he wanted. It felt like the good times on the road with Genma. He had his martial arts to practice but then he was free to just enjoy any small pleasures he could find.

'Where had everything gone wrong?' It had seemed so simple, spend time with his mom, deal with the Tendo's and get out of the engagement, then head back to the shrine. 'Why does everything have to be so complicated? All I want is a cure, some place to stay, food, and someone who I can practice the art with. Is that too much to ask for?'

"Nya?"

"How do you like it here?" An indecipherable stream of partial cat sounds came his way. "Ok ok well how do you like my mom?" The cabbit just looked doubtfully at him. "I know what you mean, she's weird. Well how bout Kasumi-san?" A bright smile was the response and a few happy noises. "I figured, well how bout Tendo-san?"

"Meh."

"Haha, well then how bout Nabiki?" A rapid fire head shake. "Yea she looks like trouble. And how bout Akane?" A shrug of the tiny creatures shoulders.

"Heh, she's weird too. And how bout my Oyaji?" Another negative head shake. "Yup you're definitely smart. Well I wonder what we should do. Hang out here for the week, or head back?" Another shrug.

"Well I guess we could stay here for a couple days. It's not like the house will be destroyed when we get back." He froze remembering how violent Ryoko and Ayeka could get. "Then again, I hope Sasami can keep things under control."

**X X X X X X**

Back at the Masaki shrine Tenchi was currently looking at the large hole that he could easily fit through standing up. In front of him flanking the hole were the slightly singed forms of Ryoko and Ayeka, who alternated between glaring at each other and looking embarrassed.

"I'll go get the tools." He sighed and wish Ranma hadn't left for the week. Ryoko always acted better around him, which meant Ayeka did. He just hoped the house would be able to survive until his return.

**X X X X X X **

"Where have you been boy?" Sitting as far from his father as possible Ranma ate his food quickly. Kasumi was an excellent cook and he mentally added another check for her in the Sasami category.

"I was around."

"Nyum nya mya." Ryo-ohki voiced her opinion while gnawing on a large carrot which was rapidly disappearing.

"You should be spending time with your fiancée."

"She's not my fiancée Oyaji." "He's not my fiance." He and Akane chorused.

"Ah young love Saotome-kun, isn't it wonderful?"

"Indeed Tendo-kun."

"Idiots." He and Akane shared a look of disgust. Further discussion was ignored by him as it mainly had to deal with Genma and Soun planning things for their engaged children to do.

**X X X X X X**

After dinner found Nabiki in Akane's room as her younger sister did homework. Clad in tans shorts and a green blouse she was doing some simple leg exercises on Akane's bed while her sister sat at her desk in a red nightshirt.

"So what are you going to do Akane?"

"I'm not getting married to him Nabiki."

"You shouldn't be so hasty Akane, he is cute after all. And he has a one of a kind pet, I looked it up and there are no such things as cabbits."

"So then why don't you marry him?"

"Because you two are such a perfect couple."

"Yea right."

"So what if he changes into a girl."

"And that too, it's just so, so, so perverted!" Her younger sister suddenly broke her pencil.

"How so?"

"Think of what he does to that body, boys are all perverts, i'm surprised he can keep his hands away from himself!"

"Sounds like you're letting Kuno-chan get to you. Not every boy is some kind of pervert."

"I know, but it's just easier to assume." Ranma didn't seem that perverted. The twice she had seen him as a girl he hadn't even batted an eye at the change in bodies. Just went about his business and didn't even look at herself. It was completely opposite to how she thought a boy would react. Any of the perverts at school would be in a daze and feeling themselves up. He didn't even seem interested in her, at school she had to literally fight them off, it was an odd switch that threw her off.

**X X X X X X**

Outside of Akane's room Ranma paused with his hand raised to knock on the door. He wanted to talk with Akane and try and tell her he was going to be leaving after tomorrow. But also to discuss some way they could stand up to the fathers and make them see reason with a united front. There was no reason for him to blame her and he thought she should be informed of his decision.

Instead he had heard her loud exclamation about him being a pervert and how he molested his female form. He was naive, but he'd heard guys talk before, when you had to hang around his fathers company you heard certain things. Even from Genma's own mouth usually came some crude comment about the usefulness of women and their purposes.

He had always made it a point never to assume or think of women in the same way, especially after spending time as one. Few if any of the females he had been around on the training trip had fit Genma's description and when he started to realize how out of whack his father was, he had thrown away a lot of the panda's ideas. He had no clue how the female of the species thought, but then again he didn't really understand most people anyways so why judge one to be worse than the other?

None of it seemed honorable and a martial artist should never assume things about others. It was advice from an old priest who his father had underestimated and received the beating of a lifetime because of it. He couldn't really remember the name of the priest, but Katsuhito reminded him a lot of the guy. It had been shortly before the neko-ken training and he couldn't remember it clearly.

"Well fine if she wants to be like that." He would just have to do this by himself. This whole trip was such a bad idea and he was rapidly considering that staying away from both parents was in his best interests. Turning from the door he started to walk down the hall to the guest room.

"Miyah?" He shivered for a moment at the sad sounding cabbit as she hopped alongside him.

"It's alright, we'll head back after I spend time with my mom tomorrow. Let's go see if my Oyaji pawned off all my stuff."

Sliding open the door to what he assumed was the guest room since it lacked an animal plaque on the door he found a large open room with a futon on the floor. Everything was a mess. Several dirty gi's were on the floor, some food cartons, and it smelled like a panda. Next to him Ryo-ohki crinkled her nose and made a small snort. Ignoring the mess, he decided he'd rather spend the night in the dojo. And he was not going to clean this mess up.

Slinging his pack, which seemed to have been untouched, over his shoulder Ryo-ohki happily jumped up to sit on top of the bedroll on top.

"You're so lazy." He muttered and started down the hall, in response he received an indignant miyah. Coming out of her own room was Kasumi who stopped him.

"Oh Ranma-kun is something the matter?"

"No, I just don't want to be in the same room as Oyaji, is it alright if I just sleep in the dojo?"

"It should be fine, Akane will probably wake you in the morning. She likes to get practice in when she wakes up."

"I'm used to getting up early."

"Well breakfast is at 7:30 and school starts at 8:30. If you need anything don't be afraid to ask."

"Thanks Kasumi-san." Leading the way down the steps he threw on his slippers and left through the front door and turned left. Finding the dojo empty he settled his pack in a corner and started to dig through the items. Sorting the items he folded the clothes that had been pulled out and replaced hastily. Checking one of the outside pockets he found his wallet empty.

'Stupid panda going through my stuff.' Putting the current money that he had inside of it he put it in his pocket. His first purchase after Jusenkyo had been a water proof wallet. It was just a simple rubber pouch, the open end had a a pair of magnetic strips that snapped closed and kept the water out. Genma, never having money, did not even bother having a wallet.

Unfortunately at the bottom of the pack it was still wet. His father had obviously not bothered to take his water logged pack apart so that it could dry out and the stench of mildew hung in the air.

"Stupid Oyaji." Emptying the rest of the gear which was mostly the materials to form a small tent he propped the pack upside down on the outside of the building. Unrolling his sleeping bag he found it mostly dry, being that it was not buried in the bag, it still smelled funky so he hung it up outside on the clothes line. Looking around at the sudden absence of Ryo-ohki he found her frolicking around the yard chasing something.

"Hey Ryo-ohki don't go running off." The cabbit turned and acknowledged him before taking off around the corner of the building. "Man I got enough to deal with without baby sitting a space ship."

**X X X X X X**

"I hope Ranma-niichan is alright." The group at the Masaki home was enjoying a snack out on the porch, enjoying the warm evening after a somewhat hectic day of Ryoko and Ayeka chasing Tenchi.

"I'm sure he's fine Sasami-chan."

"I'm sure he is having a wonderful time Sasami." Ayeka added.

"Actually he's fine and should be early." Ryoko floating in mid air gave off a small laugh. The space pirate had been smirking all day about something.

"How do you know that monster woman?"

"Easy, I have a mental link with Ryo-ohki and i'm borrowing her memories."

"Is that why you sent her with him?"

"You're spying on him?"

"Just making sure he doesn't get into trouble without me there to enjoy it."

"That's really nice of you Ryoko-neechan."

"Huh?"

"Worrying about Ranma-san like that. Almost sounds like you are turning over a new leaf."

"I'll have you know that the only man I worry about is my Tenchi."

"Your Tenchi? Since when has Tenchi-sama been your anything?"

And so began another fight over the affections of one Masaki Tenchi.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma rounded the corner looking for Ryo-ohki and found himself nearly bumping into a smirking Nabiki. Held up by the scruff of her neck was a dejectedly looking Ryo-ohki who let off a soft miyah at him.

"Lose something Ranma-kun?"

"Heh heh no just wanted to keep an eye on her."

"She's a cabbit right?"

"Yea."

"So where did you get her?"

"She's a friends, don't know where she got her."

"Your friend got a name?"

"Can I just have her back?"

"I suppose." Taking back Ryo-ohki the cabbit quickly jumped up on his shoulders to hide behind his neck. "Good night Ranma-kun." Studying her as she turned and left he tried to understand what was up with her. The girl was obviously scheming something and was interested in Ryo-ohki which he could understand.

"Alright come on you, and no more running off around here. It's fine at the shrine but here you could get stolen."

"Miya?"

"Although you can probably hang out with Kasumi-san just stay away from Oyaji and that Nabiki girl, got it?"

"Miya." He chuckled as the cabbit actually gave him a thumbs up.

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

As I said this is only the first part of this chapter. I really wanted to get the whole Nerima visit out of the way. I didn't want to have Ranma spend too much time with in Nerima at first. He will eventually go back and a few people will follow him to the shrine before then, but after finding a place where he is treated well, there would be no reason for him to stay in Nerima where no one really cares about him in the beginning. He also needs to help free Washu-chan.

This has nothing to really do with this chapter but I was reading another fic that had some line about how Ranma finally got over his no hitting girls attitude. Ranma hits girls, where this ridiculous notion that he never hits girls comes from I cannot understand. He is reluctant to hit people who are weaker than himself. Which in his mind includes most if not all girls and guys. He kicks Shampoo rather hard off the challenge log, he was going to hit Kodachi bare handed but he would have lost because of it. He tried his hardest to turn Cologne into paste to get the phoenix pill.

Nodoka has a complete lack of interest in her husband. When taking both Ranma and him back to their home in the manga she forgets him completely. Hence why she never really talks to him and would rather talk to Soun. Of course the feeling seems mutual as Genma shows his complete disregard for her safety while fighting with Ranma over the "family heirloom" resulting in Ranma finally meeting her face to face as a guy.

About Ranma being able to stand Ryo-ohki's calls. He's been around her for a while and knows she isn't a cat. He only really gets freaked out when she makes a noise and he isn't expecting it. Ryo-ohki understands this and tries to keep from surprising him but since she's a newborn she gets distracted and does occasionally.

There is another fic out there that is very similar to this one. I had read it before but forgot it and recently found it again. Even the username is similar to mine, another coincidence as mine is a play on my name. I'm hesitant to say which as it would ruin something that I have coming up. I will definitely have it listed in my favorites as well as give out the name and author in the next chapter since by then it will be a mute point. If anyone wants it before then feel free to look on my forum as I will be putting a link in there. It hasn't been updated since 06, but it's well written and I think it's worth the time to read stories where authors put thought into their characters.


	6. No Need for Trips Middle

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

Anime-Freak317 – I'm not sure how Ryoga actually figured out Ranma went to Furinkan in canon, he just suddenly pops up knowing where he is. I suppose your right, the rhythmic gymnastics stuff would still go on regardless of Ranma being away. So I guess i'll have to add another day to Ranma's stay in Nerima. It is a little early, since about this time Ranma should be having his first duel with Ryoga, but it gives me an idea and i'm going to run with it. Mostly because it allows me to play on the whole Nodoka and manliness thing.

I'm getting to Ryo-ohki and electronics. :evil smirk:

A small note about Ranma when he is crouching outside of combat and sometimes in. When he does, it means that he crouches like a cat or dog, with his hands planted on the ground between his feet. Anime Ranma doesn't really do this but it's almost a universal constant with manga Ranma, which is what I'm trying to base his character off of.

This is another chapter that spiraled out of control once I realized the possibilities of having Ranma don a leotard with Nodoka around. Well heh heh, poor boy, or girl as the case maybe. And I guess I lied and there will be one more chapter in Nerima.

And without further ado the longest chapter i've written so far.

**X X X X X X**

"Don't hang around me at school."

"You don't have to worry about that."

Walking on the shoulder height green fence, that matched his tai chi shirt, Ranma snorted. The only reason he was even bother visiting this school was that he didn't want to spend the day around his father. He had asked Kasumi to take care of Ryo-ohki and had explained that she should not let the cabbit out of her sight, especially around his father. She was a very exotic animal and the old man might just decide to sell her.

Next to him on the ground clad in her blue Furinkan uniform was Akane who would glare his way every so often. He wasn't sure what her problem was now but he assumed it was just for being alive. His old man had given him a book bag, probably bought with money stolen from him, and he considered throwing it in the canal to his right. He'd be gone tomorrow anyway, and he was going to make it a point when asked to tell the teachers that as well.

"And we aren't getting married."

"Trust me after today you'll never see me again."

WHACK!

"Don't even think of running out on your fiancée boy!" Genma bellowed after hitting him over the head.

"Stupid old man she is not my fiancée!"

"Now you listen to me boy." In no mood for his fathers foolishness he dropped down into a crouch and kicked out the foot Genma had put all his weight on. Predictably his Oyaji hung in mid air comically for a moment, before plummeting into the canal below.

"What was that old man?" Grinning like a maniac as the panda jumped onto the fence and took several swings at him, stepping back and out of the way, he jumped back from one last paw swipe and landed on the road. The old panda was dangerous but he was still faster.

"You're getting slow old man. I'm not getting wet today."

Splash

#What was that boy?#

"Shut up." Glaring at the old ladle lady who had splashed her yesterday she adjusted her pants. "Well ya coming?" Sorely tempted to freak out on the obviously senile old lady she reigned it in.

"Don't you want any hot water?"

"What's the point, i'm only going to be here for the day."

"Come on I know a place where you can get some."

"But aren't we already running late?"

"Crap you're right, you aren't going to do anything perverted are you?"

"Huh?"

"You promise to stay out of the girls locker room?"

"What? Why would I want to go in there for?" She was actually confused over that, what reason would she have to go in the girls locker room? It wasn't like she brought a change of clothes for something. Staring back into the now taller girls eyes she tried to figure it out. Likewise Akane was staring at the now short and busty red head in front of her trying to look for any pervertedness.

"Fine but if I catch you doing anything perverted I'm going to make sure you're a girl in both forms got it?"

"Whatever." Quickly grabbed by the wrist she was dragged along in mid air for a moment before she pushed her feet down and started to run alongside Akane. Viewing the girl out of the corner of her eye she found her blue haired companion getting angrier and angrier over something.

"Hate boys, hate boys hate boys, hate boys."

"Huh?" Where was this all coming from? Akane was slowly building up to a shout. Quickly she saw a three story school approaching. 'So this is Furinkan.' Slowing down as they got towards the gate, Akane continued and even went faster. Inside of the gate Ranma saw a large group of guys dressed in different athletic clothing. Plenty of karate, kendo, boxing, tennis, baseball, track, and even swimming (shiver) were all waiting for something.

"I HATE BOYS!" Akane screamed and rushed through the gate as the large group rushed towards Akane screaming their undying love.

"What the?" Jumping up on the stone wall outside of the school courtyard she crouched down and watched as Akane started to dispatch the boys. 'So she was holding back a little yesterday for some reason.'

She would have jumped in to stop this whole thing but Akane seemed to be handling it and if her earlier 'I hate boys' thing was an indication she had known about it. The whole thing reminded her of her junior high days and fighting over bread. 'Hmm, wasn't there some guy I was supposed to duel who never showed up, all because I got the bread before him? What was his name again?'

"Honestly, everyday, you'd think they would learn by now." Hopping down from the fence she walked over to where Akane stood over a rather large pile of unconscious guys.

"Truly such a boorish lot." A tall boy in a kendo uniform stepped forward. In his right hand was a large rose. "Evidently each of them intends to ask you out, on the dawn that he finally defeats you."

"Oh, Kuno-senpai, good morning." The only other time Ranma had heard such venom was when Ayeka had been talking about Ryo-ohki the first day she had been reborn.

"And now, Tendo Akane, might you fight with me?" A rose was thrown to Akane who caught it and tossed it to the ground in disgust.

"Seems like you're real popular around here."

"Just stay out of this, it's my fight."

"Wasn't plannin on it."

"You there, what is your name?" A boken was suddenly brandished in her direction.

"Me? I'm."

"Ah! But it is it not the custom to give one's own name first! Fine then, mine I shall give!"

"Uh, sure if you want."

"My name." Dark clouds suddenly started to develop overhead. "Is Upperclassman Kuno Tatewaki, junior group E. Captain of the kendo club. Undefeated new star of the high school fencing world. But my peers call me... The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Thunder and a bolt of lightning crackled overhead. 'Well that was kinda cool, wonder how he did that.'

"Okay well i'm Saotome Ranma and i'm visiting the school for the day."

"Saotome Ranma, your fiery beauty rivals that of the fierce tigress Akane's."

"Whatever." Choosing to ignore the delusional idiot she started to walk by when a boken blocked her path. This idiot had gotten old real fast, if he didn't knock it off she might have to take her frustrations out on the thickheaded kendoist. If she wanted to work with a sword she would go to Katsuhito not some high school student.

"Hold, If you defeat me, I will allow you to go out with me!" Dodging a swing she jumped back.

"Who's asking for a date, you moron!?"

"I strike!" Dodging another blow Kuno's boken dug a large trench through a tree. 'Guys got some power.' Another swing was dodged by jumping up and standing sideways against a tree a full meter above Kuno's head. 'Ryoko better watch out, pretty soon i'll figure out that flying trick. Maybe even that move through stuff thing.'

Akane watched as Kuno attacked Ranma out of the blue. It was one thing to attack her when he knew she was a martial artist, but he hadn't had any clue that Ranma was one. But Ranma had moved with blinding speed and Kuno had even attacked full out. And now Ranma was actually standing on the side of a tree far longer than anyone should be able too. 'He's incredible.'

Kuno's next attack cut the tree apart near the base and Ranma dropped to the ground before the rest of it only to rush forward into the older boys guard preventing a new strike.

"Now hold on! Let me make this perfectly clear to you." Ranma growled and got right into the taller boys face as much as her shorter stature allowed. As a girl she did only barely come up to the boys shoulders. Kuno continued to keep pace as she pushed him back. "I don't know what kind of pervert you are, but if you think I'll just go out with you because I beat you, you got another thing coming!"

In Kuno's usually fogged mind he registered that this girl was far far faster than Akane. 'She's, she's skilled! As skilled as Akane! No more skilled!' Being pushed backwards towards the outer wall by the angry little red head, he could only stare at the almost glowing blue eyes of the girl. 'Such beauty! Such strength! I must have her!'

"I attack!" Trying to swing down the girl disappeared. Lightning exploded overhead, looking up he found Ranma hanging in mid air, her form outlined by the bright light. Small droplets of rain started to fall. Frozen with his boken held at waist level she landed on it, her weight barely registering to him, as she stepped forward to kick him in the face, hard.

" What a push over." Sweeping the fallen boken up with her foot it twirled in the air for a moment before she caught it easily. Swinging it a few times she tossed it over to Kuno's downed form. The cheap ones that Katsuhito supplied were better. Feeling the rain start to pick up she started towards the school, ignoring the dazed Akane till she was at the door. "Hey you coming? We're going to be late." Akane shook herself from her daze and ran inside before the rain started to really pour down.

"Oh poor Kuno-chan." Nabiki smirked as one of her associates helped drag him inside to the nurses office. She didn't know why Ranma had come to school as a girl but seeing him beat Kuno like he was a beginner brought a smile to her face. Kuno was such a masochist, first Akane beats him and he becomes infatuated with her, now Ranma would probably get the same treatment. 'Now how to make a profit.'

**X X X X X X **

"How about you introduce yourself to the class?"

"Uh right, I'm Saotome Ranma of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I've been training in China for the past year and i'm living in Okayama but staying with the Tendo's at the moment."

"Thank you Miss Saotome, since you aren't actually attending I'll excuse you from bucket duty. But since Miss Tendo has no such reason to be late, buckets, hall." Grumbling over the injustice of it Akane did make her way out into the hall while glaring at Ranma. "Please take one of the free seats."

"Right." Walking down an aisle she tried to ignore the lustful looks from most of the male students. Finding a free seat next to the window and mostly towards the back she sat down. As the teacher started some lecture she was instantly bombarded with notes. Slowly reading them, she found most of them to be stupid personal questions, a few about her sizes, whatever that meant, and a couple that she felt required her to find the writers and break their hands.

About halfway through the period Akane was let back in, she gave her a death glare before sitting down near the opposite side of the room. A few more notes appeared on her desk, nearly all asking what was up between her and Akane. Rubbing her temples she suddenly remembered why she had decided not to go to high school.

The period which was some boring history class ended slowly and they now had a 10 minute break before the next teacher came in. Of course this meant she was surrounded by all but one of the students who didn't even let her get in an answer.

"Got a boyfriend?" "Is that your real hair color?" "How long have you been training?" "How'd you stand on the side of the tree like that?" "Why are you dressed like that?" "Where do you go to school?" "Why don't you go here?" "Can you teach me to do that?" "Are you better than Akane?" "What's your number?" "How was China?"

**X X X X X X**

In the nurses office Nabiki was sitting next to the bed her main source of income was currently laid out on. She had to wait an unusually long time today. Usually Kuno was up and about before first period ended. It was nearly lunch time and she wondered just how hard Ranma had kicked the boy. Her gorilla of a sister had never laid him out this long. All good things come to an end and she was drawn from her text book as Kuno suddenly sat up.

"Saotome Ranma, my pigtailed girl, I will never let you go!" As quick as he sat up he laid right back down. Only to repeat his performance.

"Tendo Akane, my fierce tigress, I could never forget about you! It is you whom I love!" In no mood for further idiocy she held up the small wash basin and this time his head connected with it snapping him out of his delusions.

"You awake now?"

"That hurt, Tendo Nabiki."

"Is dating girls all you think about?"

"Regretfully, I have no intention of dating with you."

"From the bottom of my heart, I thank you."

"Foul mercenary. Alas tell me of this Saotome Ranma."

"Well she's a family friend so to speak."

"But is she to go to this fine institution of learning?"

"Nope, in fact she'll be gone after this week."

"A week? Oh how the heavens weep that she should be torn from my waiting arms."

"I'm sure, but you should know." She paused for dramatics and hugged herself.

"Know what? Tell me Tendo Nabiki what is it that I should know!"

"Her body and soul belong to another. A black haired boy with the same name. He's staying at our home."

"A boy? Under the same roof as Akane?!"

"Uh huh, and he's engaged to her."

"Engaged, to, Akane! And he has placed a foul curse on the pigtailed girl! I will not allow it!" Without waiting for further explanation the principals son ran from the nurses office.

"Well this will provide some entertainment for the next few days. Too bad he didn't wait so I could tell him where Ranma's class is."

**X X X X X X **

Lunch break came soon enough and Ranma had picked up a few snacks from a vending machine. She hadn't thought to bring a lunch since she was being rushed out the door. The 40 minute lunch period would get old, and if she really wanted she could just leave. But then she would have to deal with Genma bugging her when she got back to retrieve her stuff and Ryo-ohki. That and PE class was coming up and the possibility of exercise that could in no way involve cold water was appealing. The trip into a koi pond this morning was still fresh in her mind.

Walking out into the courtyard with her arms filled with food and one bag hanging from her mouth, she found herself surrounded once again. 'What the hell is wrong with these guys?' She was saved from deciding on who to follow when Akane came and dragged her forcibly away.

"Hey what the? Wait a sec I can walk ya know! Watch out I almost dropped my food." A small crowd followed them as she was dragged towards a small tree where two other girls sat.

"Don't you have your own lunches to eat!?" Akane turned and yelled at the crowd that instantly dispersed. "Honestly, here sit down." Pushed violently towards the two girls Ranma stumbled a few paces before jumping and kneeling in mid air to land between them without spilling her cargo.

"Sheesh what's up with you anyways? I thought you didn't want me to hang around you."

"See if I help you out again."

"Oh, well thanks I guess." She couldn't really understand how the girl had just helped her, but being in a good mood she let it slide.

"So Akane aren't you going to introduce us?" A girl with dark brown hair tied up in a high ponytail by a red ribbon broke in.

"She is the hottest topic around school ya know." Another with light brown hair coming down to mid back added.

"Oops, i'm sorry this is Ranma, she's uh staying at our house for a few days. Ranma this is Sayuri and Yuka." Akane introduced them in the order that they had talked.

"It's nice to meet you." They chorused.

"Yea, nice to meet you." Popping open one of the bags she started to eat.

"You don't have a bento?"

"Nah."

"Kasumi made you one."

"Really?"

"Idiot."

"Hey how was I supposed to know?"

"Saotome Ranma!" The four turned to see Kuno running up to them. "Tell me it tis not true!" Kneeling in front of her Kuno suddenly grabbed her hands and stared into her eyes. "Tell me that the foul mercenary Tendo Nabiki is lying."

"Uh, bout what?"

"That you are enslaved by a man who bears the same name as you. And that he is also after the heart of the fair Akane!" She could only blink and look over at Akane for some clue about what this idiot was babbling about. The answer was a shrug.

"It's not true?"

"Oh how the heavens doth weep in joy and I along with them that the foul mercenary has been shown a liar!" Releasing her hands he jumped up and did a small dance of joy.

"So what's up with this guy?"

"He's nuts."

"I can see that." Not paying attention to him, Ranma and Akane were unprepared for Kuno glomping onto them.

"My loves! Come let us eat together!" The delusional kendoist found himself sailing into the school wall from a double uppercut.

"Is he always like that?"

"Unfortunately."

**X X X X X X**

"Oh man I wish that Ranma chick would have gotten changed."

"I know what you mean. Just look at that body, it's too bad she covers it up with such baggy clothes."

A large group of boys had gathered to watch as the hot new redhead as she played softball. Placed on the opposite team as the other hottest girl in the school who was up to bat. Ranma was off playing short stop, and looked incredibly bored. Any time the ball had come near the red head it had been caught with ease and Ranma didn't even look to be sweating.

"Do you think she wears a bra?"

"No way dude, she's au natural!"

"Think she's a natural red head then?"

"A color like that? No way has to be a dye job."

"But what about her eyes? How many japanese girls have blue eyes like that?"

"She must have a foreign parent."

"Exotic."

A pitch was lobbed in towards Akane who swung and hit it. It looked to be going into the outfield when Ranma jumped up into the air high enough to catch it at chest level. Back flipping in mid air she landed before throwing it to first base and getting out the runner, who had suddenly found herself needing to tag up.

"Wow." Was chorused by all the boys watching. Back on the field Akane glowered and walked back to the dug out.

**X X X X X X **

"Hey Kane, what's up? Why are you so angry at Ranma?"

"Seriously, what is up with that?"

"You don't understand." She tried to hide her anger at the redhead, who was almost sleeping as they waited for the next class. She didn't like all the attention she got from the boys at Furinkan, but it was very reaffirming about herself to have them fawn over her.

But within 5 minutes Ranma had taken all of that attention and had gained even more. And what made it worse was that she wasn't even a real girl. It was very tempting to go get some hot water, very very tempting she amended. It would serve the pervert right to have his secret out in the school. At least the engagement hadn't become public knowledge. Kuno's brief ramblings earlier hadn't been heard by anyone else.

"Well, explain it to us."

"You wouldn't believe me."

"I really don't know why you are so upset, you always complained about the way the boys came after you."

"Are you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous!" All eyes turned to regard her and she chuckled nervously. She buried her face in her desk as several rumors started about her being intimidated by Ranma among other raunchier things.

**X X X X X X**

School was winding down and the last class was about to started. Akane was now in an even fouler mood. Ranma's continued dismissal of all the attention shoved on him had caused even more. Her best friends had even went over to talk with the boy turned girl. Stating that she was being far too melodramatic.

'What's so interesting about him anyways? Just cause he's got red hair, and big breasts, and well alright he has a really great body as a girl. And so what if he can jump really high and beat Kuno, I can do that too! That doesn't mean everyone should just drop everything for him. And she was most certainly not jealous, nuh uh no way.'

The idea of hot water had become almost irresistible. There were plenty of good reasons and some that weren't so pleasant that made her mind always come back to it. For one it would show the school how wrong they were about the boy. Another would be that it would get him to stay away and possibly leave. Certainly it would shame him for spending the day as a girl and fooling everyone as soon as she explained what was going on.

But if she was going to do it she would have to do it now. Standing she left the room as silently as she could. Grabbing a bucket she went to the janitors closet to retrieve the hot water. Returning she found a small crowd was still around her recent fiance, who also didn't notice her coming up behind with the bucket.

Pausing as she lifted the bucket she thought of the reasons why she should not do this. Ranma hadn't been that perverted, in fact he had been rather nice, to her and her friends as well as everyone at school sans Kuno. And beating Kuno was something she could agree with and would like to see happen more often. What she did come back to was that Ranma had not done anything that warranted her revealing his secret. Regretting ever thinking of doing this she was about to lower the bucket.

"Hey Akane what are you doing with the bucket?" Yuka asked from her side startling her.

"EEP!" Throwing up her hands in surprise the bucket lifted into the air on a perfect arc to Ranma. Watching with horror as it slowly over turned and landed, covering Ranma's head. The surprised students grew even more so as Ranma's body quickly shifted to that of his male form.

"No wait, I didn't mean, I was putting it down, I uh."

Ranma feeling the water wash over her froze up for a moment as the change took place, never painful, just an odd stretching or compression. Used to the sudden splashes of cold water, as hot water rarely found him, he assumed that he had been splashed with cold and would still be in female form. Which would be perfectly acceptable since he had spent the day as a girl. Ripping the bucket off of his head he turned to see a stuttering Akane.

"Whatcha do that for?!" He was about to stand up and head out in order to dry his clothes off when he noticed that his voice was far too deep for his female form. Glancing around he found students whispering and staring at him.

"Did you see that?"

"Yea Ranma just became a guy."

"Was it some disguise?"

"No way couldn't have been."

"But that's impossible you can't just turn into a boy."

As calmly as he could he looked down and took stock of his flat male chest. Standing he slid his chair in and opened the window. Not looking back he jumped out.

"Ranma no!" Akane yelled and rushed to the window. This was horrible, first she gets the crazy idea to splash him, and then she does, and now he just jumped out a three story window. Probably having just committed suicide over what she had done. 'I'm such a moron what did I think I was doing?!'

The entire class who clamored next to each other to look out of the window. Only instead of seeing a red smear on the concrete they found Ranma landing gracefully before walking away as if he hadn't just done the impossible. Running over to her desk she quickly gathered up her things and shoved them into her backpack before rushing out to try and catch up to Ranma.

**X X X X X X**

Kasumi was busy hanging laundry out to dry. Her sisters and Ranma would be home soon and she would have to start dinner in an hour or so. She was considering asking Ranma about where she could get her own cabbit. Ryo-ohki had been a wonderful companion through the day and actually seemed to understand her if she talked to the rabbit like creature. She had even attempted to help to a small extent when her tiny body allowed it. Oddly enough she never seemed to leave any waste around the yard.

" You're home early Ranma-kun." She was startled for a moment when Ranma had jumped over the outer wall but recovered quickly. Her future brother in law looked soaked. His normally spiky black hair was resting against his head and his green shirt was sticking to his body.

"I uh guess so Kasumi-san." He moved quickly and Ryo-ohki left her side to follow him. Unsure of how she should handle the situation. Something was clearly bothering the young man but she had no experience with consoling a boy, let alone one she barely knew. To her sisters she had always been the stable one who gave the house hold a firm calming influence.

She could always continue with what she was doing, but it would be very inconsiderate to just ignore the needs of their house guest and possible family member. Yes ignoring this situation would only cause further disharmony in her home. Decision made she started for the dojo.

Inside of the dojo Ranma was pacing, he knew he shouldn't have left. He shouldn't have even went to school, let alone as a girl. But knowing the curse it was inevitable for it to come out sometime and he had expected it. What he hadn't expected was Akane to purposely dump hot water on him while surrounded by a large number of students.

He knew she thought of him as a pervert, but he hadn't expected that kind of reaction. Returning to school was out of the question, even if he had intended to stay, rumors would already have spread about him being a pervert of some kind. And he really didn't feel like putting up with that.

And the day had been going so well. Sure he had been hit on far more than he would have ever liked, since that number was zero, but everyone had been nice. Sayuri and Yuka had welcomed him into their little circle with Akane and while he couldn't appreciate their small efforts at feminizing him, they had respected his wishes to drop it.

Of course all the attention had fed his ego to a large extent. As the day had progressed more and more students had become interested in him and his abilities. It had happened before, he had always stood out above everyone else physically. Not so much mentally but even with all the traveling and time he had to spend practicing with Genma he had gotten passing grades pretty easily.

"Ranma-kun, are you alright?" Pausing in mid step he turned to find Kasumi holding Ryo-ohki in her arms, both looking at him with concern. 'Am I really that obvious?'

"Yea i'm fine." Walking over to his pack he started to put back in his supplies. He was out of this place as soon as he spent time with his mother. That was the reason for this trip from hell. At the very least he could do that. Maybe even find out why she was so hung up on this manliness stuff.

Off to the side Kasumi just sat calmly waiting, in this respect Akane and Ranma were very similar. They did not like to open up about their feelings. But she found that if she was patient her sister would take her cue and start to open up. Perhaps if she did the same Ranma would do likewise.

As she was waiting Akane had finally made it home. Noticing Ranma pacing inside of the dojo she heading over to apologize when she caught sight of Kasumi kneeling near the entrance.

"Ya know, I come here to see my mom. What does she do? Leaves me at someone else's place to deal with some stupid arranged marriage. I'm gone 10 years and all she's worried about is how manly I am. I don't think she even asked how I was or how the trip went."

"Oh my that is odd."

"All I can remember is training with Oyaji. Travel to some place, train, maybe learn from some master, then move on. It wasn't perfect but it was simple ya know? "

Kasumi nodded her head thinking of her own life. She also kept a simple lifestyle, it left little in the way of a life outside the home, but she enjoyed it and it was very fulfilling.

"Nothing gainst you and your family but after tonight I'm gone."

"Did something happen at school?"

"Actually yea something did, Akane threw water on me and showed off my curse to the entire class."

"Oh my, that isn't like Akane at all. Usually she's such a kind sweet girl, though she has some violent tendencies."

Kasumi's mouth turned in a resemblance of a frown. Why would her little sister do that. Ranma had been a welcome house guest compared with Genma. Ranma was for the most part polite and had already cleaned up after himself in the dojo. Genma was crude and left a mess everywhere. It was hard to think Akane could be so cruel to someone she had just met.

Outside the dojo Akane was leaning against the side of the building. She winced as Ranma told Kasumi about what she had done. She had changed her mind, she was putting the bucket down, but Ranma didn't know that, only that she had exposed his curse. Not looking into the dojo but at the gate she caught sight of a trio of heavily bandaged girls walking inside of the gate. Not wanting to be caught spying she quietly as she could left the side of the building.

**X X X X X X **

"So you're saying she just attacked you?"

"Yes! We've been humiliated!" The trio of girls in front of Akane had bandages over most of their body with a few band aids over specific places.

She had taken them into the tea room where they had broke down crying. They told her that some girl named Kodachi from St. Hebereke School for Girls had viciously attacked them. And the match between the two schools in Rhythmic Gymnastics was tomorrow.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"We were going to ask Ranma about filling in. Is she here?"

"No, uh, she's not here right now." She let off a sigh of relief so the school hadn't broke down into chaos over her little stunt.

"Oh, well could we ask you to help us then? We would be eternally grateful." As one they bowed to her.

"Sure I guess." Mentally she added that she had never done Rhythmic Gymnastics before.

"Thank you Akane! Here we have all of our supplies if you want to practice. A large bag was hastily placed on the table as well as a large ring. 'But I didn't see them carrying this stuff before.'

"So when is it?"

**X X X X X X **

"Ranma-kun, could you do something for me?"

"What?" He tried not to snap, Kasumi had been nice to him and she was like a grown up Sasami. Who could ever think to hurt someone like that?

"Could you try and talk with Akane over this? I'm sure it must be some kind of misunderstanding." He rolled his eyes, how could it be a misunderstanding? The girl had thrown hot water on him to show off his curse to the school. "Please, I really think she was just acting rashly and didn't mean any harm."

"Fine." Once again he cursed his easy going nature.

"I have to get back to the laundry but please think about staying for a while." Kasumi deposited Ryo-ohki on the floor and stood up. He watched her leave as the cabbit walked up to him and gave off a soft miyah.

"So how was your day?" Ryo-ohki gave off a few happy noises before leaping into his lap to be petted. "That good huh?" Scratching the now content cabbit under the chin he slid over to sit against the wall to think about what he should do.

Kasumi was one of those rare people that you didn't want to disappoint. And it would disappoint her if he let Akane get to him. He didn't care about people knowing about the curse. It was impossible to hide it for more than a couple days. He just wished to be able to do it on his own terms, something he had yet to do.

A bag was roughly dropped onto the floor at the entrance and he looked up to find Akane dressed in her yellow gi. His eyes narrowed a small amount and Ryo-ohki even tensed. He may have agreed to give her a second chance but he wasn't about to be the one to go out on a limb for her.

"They wanted you."

"Huh?"

"The Rhythmic Gymnastics team wanted your girl form to compete tomorrow against St. Hebereke." Akane was trying to dodge the issue of her apology and focus on this match tomorrow. After all if no one at school believed Ranma had become a boy, then there was no harm no foul.

"That's too bad, I'm gonna be leaving before then." If she was going to ignore what she had done Ranma wouldn't need to worry about his word to Kasumi. Akane pulled out several batons, some small clubs, a large rubber ball, and a small stick with some kind of ribbon wrapped around it. Calming down he got into a more comfortable position to watch the festivities.

"But then they asked me to do it."

"A clumsy girl like you? I thought gymnasts were supposed to be graceful." Akane gritted her teeth. She fully deserved to be insulted, perhaps a few insults could account for her apology. Grabbing a pair of clubs she raised them over her head.

"Well watch this!" Jumping into the air and spreading her legs to the front and back she threw the clubs in the air to twirl. Landing with her feet together she put her hands where the clubs should come down only to hear the klatter of them landing several meters away from her.

"Were you supposed to let those drop?"

"Fine i'll try the ribbon." Soon she was wrapped up by the ribbon.

"Are you supposed to get tangled up?"

"Fine then i'll use the hoop." Ending up in a roll the hoop snapped in several places.

"Are you supposed to break it?"

"GRR! That does it!!" Stomping her feet she started to gather up the tools.

"Aren't you supposed to have, ya know, just a little bit of grace?" Falling to her knees she started to whimper.

"I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz!"

"What am I supposed to do about it?"

"Please train me!"

"But I don't know nothing bout this stuff. Sides what would you want me to help ya for, i'm just a pervert who can't keep his hands off his girl form."

"You, you heard that?"

"You're very loud."

"I'm sorry Ranma, I didn't mean it, I was just angry over the engagement. Please Ranma, you're so much better than me, I admit it, please, please please." Akane broke down crying.

"Ack alright just stop crying already." Damn did he hate when girls cried. "Come on get that ribbon thing." Depositing Ryo-ohki he waited for Akane to compose herself and grab the ribbon. "Well try and hit me."

"Alright." Akane gave it a few twirls and tried to send it in his direction. Tilting his head to the side he let the fabric snap like a whip to the side of his head. A few more aimed for his body caused him to physically dodge. As expected Akane quickly grew angry over being unable to hit him.

"What are you doing stand still and train!"

"Puh, like whoever you facing is gonna stand still." Akane threw several more attacks and grabbed a club which she threw at him. Dodging it he snatched it out of the air before it went through the wall. Akane being new to the ribbon accidentally tied herself up without thinking about it.

"You're such a klutz."

"Shut up!" Akane started to stomp towards him.

"So what's up you two? Why'd you leave school early?" Both finally noticed Nabiki who stood at the entrance with a camera.

Distracted Akane stepped on the large rubber ball from earlier. Predictably her foot slipped out and she crumbled to the ground and twisted her leg underneath her body awkwardly.

"You ok?" Akane was frozen for a moment then burst into more tears.

"It hurts!"

**X X X X X X**

Nodoka hummed softly to herself as she pulled along a suitcase. 'Such a nice invention these, the wheels are such a nice addition.' Inside were the clothes that Ranma had brought with him the other day. She had been happy to note that there were no girl clothes included. Worry had entered her mind when she had remembered her first meeting with Ranma who had been wearing the clothes of a miko. While her son had looked positively adorable, he was supposed to be a manly man not an overly cute girl.

Entering the Tendo courtyard she found no one around. Depositing the suitcase at the entrance she heard voices coming from upstairs. Not wanting to intrude, but at the same time intensely curious she went up the stairs to investigate.

**X X X X X X**

"There you go Akane." Kasumi admired her work at taping up Akane's twisted ankle.

"My sister the klutz." Nabiki was smirking from her place on Akane's desk chair as she was twirled a glass of iced tea.

"I guess this means you'll have to withdraw from the match." Closing the first aid kit while kneeling on the floor she inspected her work to make sure it wasn't tied wrong.

"But I gotta go, there's no one else...who...can..." Ranma didn't much like how Akane suddenly looked at him. He hadn't caused her accident after all.

"Well what other girl is that nimble, in great shape, and knows martial arts?" Nabiki asked and all eyes quickly turned to him.

"Uh what is it? Something on my face? What're you lookin at me for?"

"You beat up Kuno this morning didn't you Ranma?"

"Yea so?"

"You're in great shape, and really nimble."

"So?" Obviously not getting it he was rewarded with Nabiki's iced tea in his face.

"What did you do that for?!"

"And now you're a girl."

"Huh? Nuh uh no way am I doing some stupid gymnastics thing."

"But you're the only one who can."

"No way! They were those tights."

"Hmm, I think you'd look really good in a leotard."

"Gak, no way! Besides i'm leaving tomorrow and don't even go to Furinkan!"

"Excuse me, what seems to be all the commotion?" Nodoka's smiling face appeared in the doorway as she entered Akane's room. As usual she was dressed in a kimono but this time lacked the Saotome family honor blade.

"Saotome-san, you're early." "Uh hi mom."

"I didn't mean to intrude, is something going on?"

"We were just asking Ranma to fill in at a tournament tomorrow."

"And I was just saying no way."

"Does that mean you're backing down from a challenge son? That isn't very manly of you."

"Wha? I don't back down from nothing!"

"So you'll do it then? Great! I'll go find you an outfit." Nabiki quickly ran out of the room. Pictures of Ranma-chan in a leotard would make a killing.

"I suppose I should have asked, but what kind of tournament is it?"

"Rhythmic Gymnastics." Ranma's shoulders slumped expecting something more about her manliness.

"But isn't that for girls?"

"And that's why I didn't want to do it."

"Oh dear." Nodoka suddenly felt like she had just been fooled. While running from a challenge was unmanly, could competing in a tournament for girls be considered manly? Or would it be womanly? She was confused over the whole thing and settled on just letting the situation play out.

"Here ya go Ranma." Nabiki had returned carrying a pale pink leotard with a lighter pink for the arms. Black trim came down from a small bow at the neck and wrapped around below the arms. More black trim was at the end of the arms.

"Oh my, that'll look really cute on you Ranma-kun."

"Son please don't bang your head against the wall."

**X X X X X X**

Everyone eating dinner at the Masaki home suddenly turned to the madly laughing Ryoko as she rolled on the floor. Sharing similar looks of worry they waited for her to calm down and took a few steps back. Except she didn't and actually increased her laughter.

"Uh Ryoko what's going on?" Tenchi gathered his courage to ask.

"Ranma, he has to, haha, be in some girls gymnastics competition, and he's gotta wear a pink leotard."

"A competition?"

"Haha, yea tomorrow at some school."

"Ranma-san is in a competition? Should we go and support him?"

"We should we should." Sasami and Mihoshi chorused and bounced a bit and looked at Tenchi expectantly. Shrugging he figured, what's the worst that could happen? Besides it would be nice to get away from the shrine for a while. Everyone was getting a little stir crazy as it was, and he hadn't been to Tokyo in a long time.

**X X X X X X**

"Son please get changed, we're going out to eat tonight, and put on something nice."

"Really?" Ranma lit up at the thought of spending time with her mother.

"Yes now hurry up." Rushing to the dojo she handed off Ryo-ohki to Kasumi. Nodoka smiled at her child's enthusiasm. Even after all the years away from her, he still wanted to spend time with his old, wait forget that, young and beautiful mother.

Excusing herself from the three Tendo sisters she went to wait at the front door. Soon enough her child returned in his birth form and wearing a nice sky blue tai chi shirt. 'I must expand my son's wardrobe. Though they do fit his personality and he looks very manly.'

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yea, so where we going?"

"I have a reservation at a place called Canoviano, they serve Italian food. We'll have to head for the subway as I forgot about the added distance from here."

"Gotcha." Walking briskly alongside Nodoka, Ranma resisted the urge to jump up to the top of the wall next to them. Forced to be grounded he suddenly thought of something.

"Um, mom."

"Yes dear?"

"What's Italian food?"

"Food from Italy dear."

"Oh."

**X X X X X X**

"So Saotome-kun isn't Nodoka taking you and Ranma out to eat tonight." Carefully he slid his knight forward. Eyes never leaving the shogi board.

"Of course Tendo-kun, it'll be our first family meal in 10 years. I can't wait." Moving a pawn forward to block Genma as well didn't let his eyes leave the board.

"Would you like something to drink father? Saotome-san?" Kasumi asked while holding some drinks. By unspoken agreement they both turned from the board.

"Thank you very much Kasumi." Soun thanked his daughter, while Genma just grunted.

"You haven't seen my wife have you?"

"Oh my I believe she left with Ranma about half an hour ago." Genma being distracted missed several pieces being moved.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma figured, after grilling the waiter about the food, that he did in fact like this Italian stuff. His mother had admonished him for ordering so much, but he was hungry. It was the one constant in his life. Before there had been two, hunger and gender, now there was only hunger. And he really hoped that something wouldn't come along and take away hunger, as he loved food.

The trip had been quiet, not being the best conversationalist from years of being brought up by Genma who was about as interesting as a block of wood. Nodoka didn't seem that way, but 10 years of relative isolation from him had created a large gulf that neither were really willing to jump across at the moment. Other than random small talk he couldn't really bring himself to bring up the fact that he would be leaving. And now he had to deal with this stupid gymnastics thing, that he had suddenly found himself roped into doing.

Oh well, it wouldn't be that bad, and if what he had been told about this Kodachi girl were true, she might even be a good challenge. Tomorrow he'd probably end up getting woken up by Genma like he had done this morning and end up training the entire day. No way was he going back to school.

Across from Ranma, Nodoka was studying her son. Most certainly he was not the perfect gentleman, something she could fault her husband for. But he kept near and his sheer presence alone radiated his manliness. That was something she could concede to Genma and could possibly reward him for.

"Please slow down son." What she couldn't accept was the way her son was a human vacuum for food. Genma was the same way and had obviously encouraged it once they had set off on the trip. Ranma had always had a healthy appetite, something she had never figured out why.

"Sorry."

"So son how are you liking the Tendo's?" Ranma looked pensive for a moment and chewed some food.

"Haven't really been round Soun, I like Kasumi-san, Nabiki sets me on edge, and I don't like Akane."

"You don't like Akane?"

"She threw water on me at school."

"I'm not sure how that would." She paused suddenly remembering her child's gender problem. "That would cause a problem wouldn't it. So what happened then?"

"I left."

"How many people saw?"

"About half the classroom."

"Will it be a problem?"

"Nope."

"That's good."

She would have to speak with Akane about that later, the curse was unfortunate and unavoidable at times if her child was to be believed. But to have someone who Ranma was engaged to actively throw cold water on him in a crowded space could only mean Akane was very unhappy about the engagement. Perhaps moving the engagement to Kasumi, who her son seemed to like, at this early stage would clear up some of these issues.

"Are you looking forward to this match tomorrow?" Deciding that engagement issues could wait she moved to a safer territory. Being the wife of a martial artist, challenges were the norm and by now Ranma should be well versed in answering them.

"Little bit, sounds like this Kodachi might be worth sticking around for. Nothin I can't handle though."

"I'm sorry, did you say sticking around?"

"Ah, well, heh heh, I was planning on heading back tomorrow but now with this match I gotta stay another night."

"Could you explain why you are walking out on an obligation?" She hadn't brought the family honor blade tonight and settled for the small knife they had been given along with other European utensils.

Ranma tried to calm himself, this was it, he'd let the nasty feline thing out of the bag and now he'd have to have the talk that he had been dreading. Or running away from as the case maybe since he had just planned to leave a note or something and disappear.

"I'm not marrying Akane, I don't like her, and she doesn't like me."

"You two barely know each other, surely it was a misunderstanding earlier." Being in a somewhat secluded booth they could talk freely as the noise from the background music and other patrons was loud enough to cover speech.

"It's not just that, it's everyone back at the shrine. Well, they, they're not really from around here."

"How do you mean?"

"They're from a long long way away."

"I suppose they did seem a bit foreign but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything."

"They're aliens."

"Hopefully not illegal aliens."

"No I mean like space aliens."

"That's hardly funny Ranma."

"I have a curse that turns me into a girl with cold water, why is it that hard to believe?"

"That is true. I guess I can accept the possibility, but still how does that affect you?"

"Well I guess they're my friends, and two of em are actually princesses. I'm not really sure but from how they talk, their family rules over most of the galaxy." Ayeka had attempted to explain once how gigantic the Jurai empire was, he hadn't really understood some of the terms but he got that it was really really big.

"I still fail to see how that still stops you from fulfilling an honor pledge."

"I want to go."

"Go back to the shrine? I'm sure it would be perfectly acceptable to visit."

"No, I mean, out there." He was a naturally curious person, especially when it came to some kind of martial art. And with all the worlds that were supposedly out there who knew how many different powerful styles existed.

"Out there?"

Nodoka was having a moderately difficult time accepting this whole aliens business. Sure that one girls blue hair was a positively odd color but so was hers and Ranma's girl forms. And she now assumed that Ryo-ohki was an alien animal as well, which certainly explained the odd creature. Ranma was right, if there were curses that changed a persons form with water temperature, then surely the existence of aliens was not that huge of a stretch.

"I'm still having trouble believing this, do you have some kind of proof?"

"Well, ya know that bridge that got destroyed a couple weeks ago?"

"Yes I believe it was the Great Seto Bridge."

"That was actually caused by us." Chuckling he scratched the back of his head.

"Us?"

"Well Ayeka and kinda Sasami sorta kidnapped me, Ryoko, Tenchi, his dad, and the entire house. We had a fight in their space ship then crashed back into the bridge. It's why the house ended up at the shrine now."

"Oh my."

"Yea." He waited for his mom to digest this information. That had been the weirdest night of his life, aside from the first as a girl. Finding out aliens existed, actually going into space, destroying a bridge, and doing it all in the span of a few hours. A day like that doesn't just come along often.

"I'm sorry this is a bit much. Do you think we could talk about this tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Excuse me would either of you like to see our desert menu?" Luckily the waiter returned late enough not to have heard anything.

"I'll take a look." He held out his hand for the menu.

"I think you've had enough mister." He pouted but relented, if they got back early enough he could always go out as Ranma-chan with Ryo-ohki and get a lot of free treats. Incredibly cute rabbit thing plus cute girl, oh man he'd make a killing.

**X X X X X X**

The train and walk back had been even quieter than the one to the restaurant. Ranma didn't want to pry and risk saying something stupid. He had been on a roll as of late for not sticking his foot in his mouth. He was sure he had done it a little bit with Akane but with how she had acted towards him, he wasn't that concerned about it. And it was only a matter of time till his mouth got him in trouble.

Aside her son, Nodoka was busy trying to get through this alien business. More to the point her child wanted to visit 'other places.' She now understood why he seemed so dead set against the engagement. It had been so strange before, what with the Tendo sisters being all very pretty and any manly man would be more than happy to be engaged to one of them.

But she could see her son had his sights set higher, much higher. This was what was causing a war within her head. 'Exploring the galaxy would be just so, so, so manly!' And those girls he had been staying with were princesses to an incredibly powerful family. Surely one had to be interested in her son and marrying into such a family would be a great honor.

On the flip side family honor dictated that Ranma fulfill the honor pledge with the Tendo's. Not doing so would stain the honor of both families. Running out on that would of course be unmanly and dishonorable. This would of course violate the seppuku pledge and require her husband and son fulfill the obligation.

It was a confusing and she really just wished her sons life and by proxy hers could be simple. She had all these visions of how Ranma would turn out. How many women he would have chasing him. And how many grandchildren would be on the way. But reality was setting in, Ranma's life was getting more complicated. He had certainly turned out handsome enough but nothing else seemed to fall into place.

What was troubling is how few women were in his life and chasing for his affections. He had mentioned those girls at the Masaki shrine as being his friends. One or two had to be going after her son. Unfortunately Ranma seemed uninterested in relationships, if his thoughts on the Tendo sisters were any inclination. It was odd, she wasn't an expert on boy's describing women, but she had assumed her son would have at least noticed the three girls charms.

That lead to a disturbing line of thought. Could her sons curse be messing with his mind? Hormones could play havoc on a persons mind. Perhaps the constant switching was confusing her child. If that was true then getting him cured as soon as possible should be the highest priority. She was no expert on this curse but it did seem that if there was an actual cure the guide would have directed them towards it. Dismissing those thoughts she decided that he must be inexperienced with relationships. And perhaps he was just uncomfortable discussing such things with his mother.

The situation was completely out of her area of expertise, which admittedly encompassed little. She would ask her son but she doubted he would give her a truthful answer. The only real discussion they had was about the alien girls. Other than that he would dodge the issue, and she doubted he had told the entire story.

She felt a momentary pang in her chest at that. Her son didn't trust her, it was like when he was a baby all over again. Her little boy hadn't wanted anything to do with either her or Genma. The only real picture of them together the one Ranma had studied on his first trip to her home. She couldn't explain it, when they had first brought him home he had been such a loving child, and now he was starting to fall back into that pattern. She resisted the urge to gasp and looked at her son closely.

'Could he know that he's adopted?'

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

Be honest, you didn't see that coming. I've been trying to be real subtle and sneaky about it. There are of course clues strewn about and I believe there are enough for a sharp person to figure out who Ranma's real parents are.

About Ranma not really freaking out over Genma stealing his money. With how greedy Genma is, I'm sure it was a normal occurrence. I also find it hard to believe that he had any large amount of cash since they had been traveling non stop through China while being chased by Shampoo. Stopping to get a job would have been the least of his worries.

Ranma going to school as a girl, I'm sure I'll catch some flak for it. But try and remember that he has been staying with people who really don't care or judge him by which form he's in. Rather than Genma and Akane who freak out if he spends more than five minutes as a girl.

About Ranma pairings, I mentioned before I don't think he'll end up with anyone. And definitely not one of the girls from the Ranma-verse. The only pairing I have set in stone is one for Tenchi since it has to do with how I plan to end the story or at least the Tenchi Universe timeline. I'm not sure how far I want to continue it. With that also requires that Ranma be unattached. So unless I change my mind Ranma will not end up with anyone though he will not be alone.

Please don't take me writing Akane as such to mean she and Ranma will end up together. Before all the craziness snowballs she really does start to become nice to Ranma aside from her violent outbursts which are not that frequent. I'm not much into character bashing and making her into some violent psychopath would be just that. Keep in mind as well that she has no real reason to hate Ranma in this other than the perceived pervertedness and is actually intimidated by him.

I didn't want to bring in the entire Tenchi crew to Nerima at first. All that could accomplish is solving problems and I'm a firm believer that a story should only solve problems at it's climax. Minor problems are fine but Ranma's engagements and dealing with parents are too big to be allowed to be solved without making making their characters meaningless.

I have thought about giving Kasumi a cabbit after writing that scene. But then I remembered that Kasumi is just a normal human and it would be rather cruel to have a cabbit bonded to someone who lives for such a short amount of time. Hmm, I'll have to think of something.

About my non capitalization of I's well it mainly stems from me previously using a font that made them look very similar as well as a spellcheck that didn't check for that. If it is really annoying I'll make it a point to no longer do it. I was never really interested in English class, if that can be believed.

Canoviano is a real restaurant that I found online. The "What's Italian food?" question comes from the fic "Girl days" by Kenko which is in my favorites #43. It's pretty old, and occasionally falls into a lot of fanon ideas but has a lot of humor in it and very much worth the read.


	7. No Need for Trips Final

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

**Ringside announcer talking**

Come hell or** hot** water I was going to get out of Nerima with this chapter. Sorry if the ending feels a bit rushed.

**X X X X X X**

"But No-chan how could you leave me like that?"

Smiling obliviously at her melodramatic husband she sipped some wonderful tea that Kasumi had prepared. The girl was an absolute wonder in the kitchen and around the home. Sitting around the tea room table she was enjoying the warm fall evening with the Tendo's. They had returned a bit late and she had been invited to spend the night.

She was thankful for the invitation. Her house had felt empty since her son had left, but now that she had gotten her son back the emptiness was almost crushing. Her child at the moment was lounging off in the corner a stick of pocky coming from his mouth. Akane and Nabiki were watching some program on a small television set and Ranma looked bored with the whole thing. Of course her husband was busy being a bother about not going to dinner.

"Really dear if you had wanted to go you should have said something."

"But I did, you even said you'd wait for me."

"I don't think you would have liked it."

"Really boy?"

"Yea Oyaji, they didn't serve bamboo."

"Oh to be cursed with such an ungrateful child!" Predictably everyone tuned him out and went back to what they were doing. Occasionally mother and son would be caught looking at each other. Both were worried, Nodoka about her son leaving her, and Ranma that his mother would try and convince him to stay.

He wasn't all that sure he had done a good job explaining himself. But he didn't think he could possibly stay here. The house was nice, the dojo was alright, but this was it? His life was supposed to be some dojo master at a dojo that didn't seem to have students? That was it? He was a great martial artist, probably the best around, and eventually this place would be well known. But he had never taught before. He had helped a few people before but with his own amazing learning curve he was never patient enough to teach others.

That and there was something that was subtly telling him that he really didn't belong here. The Masaki home was the first place he could recall that he had called home. The Saotome house didn't feel like a home. He had no memories in it and it just felt lived in from years of Nodoka being there alone. He couldn't really understand the difference but the Masaki place just made him feel better to be at.

Nodoka's own thoughts were on how she should handle her son. While he wasn't her child by birth, through some cosmic coincidence he had to be related to her somehow. He simply took after her and her family not to be. And she really did love him, when they had first brought him home from the orphanage he had been only around 1 year of age. He had rapidly shown only eyes for her and had cried anytime she was away for more than a few minutes. Seeing him now it wasn't the same look but she could remember back to when he did.

**X X X X X X**

12 Years ago

4 year old Ranma tugged on his new martial arts gi, his poppa had bought it big and said he would grow into it. The material was scratchy and stiff but it was different from his usual clothing and it was fun to wear something different. He didn't really like that he had no shoes on. The grass was really dry and poked his feet. He also wasn't really sure why but his poppa was sitting on the ground with his legs spread wide and reaching for one foot.

"Come on boy, do like I do."

"Okay poppa." Sitting down he mimicked his father, easily touching the foot Genma was having trouble with.

"Good now the other foot." It continued this way for about 15 minutes as Genma worked through a stretching routine. Finally it ended and his poppa smiled down at him. "You're very flexible son, having good flexibility is one of the keys to being a good martial artist." He smiled even more at the praise. It was the most he had ever gotten from the man.

"Alright son, now take this stance." Mimicking his father once again Ranma bent his knees and placed his hands at his hips. "You're a natural my boy." He positively beamed as Genma patted him on the head.

Inside the house Nodoka was finishing preparations for breakfast. She was making something extra special, today was after all special, today was the day Ranma would start his training. Clasping her hands to her chest she sighed happily. Genma had always kept his distance from Ranma, but now he was starting to take an interest in her son. This could only bode well as it would mean he was fully accepted him into their family.

It also meant that she would finally be accepted into the Saotome family. Her own family the Miyake's had been displeased with her choice of husband, but even with Genma's obvious faults she loved him. Her own inability to conceive a child had lead them to adopt. The Saotome family was strict on the requirement of a strong male line and so it had been a boy. She whole heartedly agreed with most of the ideals as they fit her definition of manly and would do her best to encourage her son to be as such.

Finishing her preparations she arranged the food on the table. Satisfied that it was a meal fit for a king she went to call in her son and husband. She hoped desperately that Genma would be able to train Ranma at home. When he had first told her he would train him, he had come up with the idea for a training trip. This was something she couldn't agree upon, her little boy hardly ever left her presence. There would be plenty of time for him to grow up, but for now she had her innocent child to think of.

Wiping her hands on her apron she walked out to announce that breakfast was ready. She appraised the pair, Ranma must be as quick a learner at the art, as he was at everything else, to already be having a small sparring session with her husband. Hopelessly outmatched he was clumsily trying to tag Genma who for his part would make small taps on an outstretched limb. The scene made her smile, father and son bonding, but then it all ended when Genma suddenly swept out Ranma's feet sending the small boy onto his back side.

"Watch your footwork boy." He chided and she frowned, for the first day that had been certainly a rough move to perform on a child.

She knew it wasn't meant to hurt Ranma and the small fall wouldn't have done anything to cause damage. Except Ranma suddenly broke down crying and ran to her. Gathering the small boy in her arms she stroke his head and made soft comforting noises. Ranma was such a small boy for his age that it was almost hard to believe he was 4, he looked far more like a large 2 year old. Turning to look at her husband she found him looking crossly at her. Suddenly she realized why he wanted to take him away, he couldn't possibly train Ranma seriously with him running to her at the first sign of trouble.

But could she really allow that? Ranma was such a sweet innocent little thing. Being taken away from her and being alone with Genma would only destroy that. No ,she couldn't let him take her baby away, not till he was at least a few years older. But it would also mean she would have to start weening him from her attentions, otherwise he would be devastated when the time came.

"Ranma." She pulled his sniffling form away as he stared up at her with big wet eyes and his lower lip still trembling. "Do you want to be a big boy for mommy?" He sniffled and didn't seem to understand. "Poppa was just trying to teach you."

"Poppa hurt me."

"I know, but it's training, you want to grow up and be big and strong like Poppa right?" Ranma's head bobbed up and down lightly. "Then you'll have to listen and do what Poppa says, alright?"

"Even if it hurts?"

"Even if it hurts."

"Why Poppa want hurt me? I dun wanna learn then."

"Ranma you must, it is a great honor to learn the art."

"But I dun wanna hurt!" He made to latch onto her again and she held it at arms length.

"Ranma." His bright blue eyes looked at her with confusion as small tears ran down his face. "It's for your own good, now let's go eat and then you can train some more with Poppa."

"But I."

"Ranma, you must do this, do you understand." She watched as his bright blue eyes darkened slightly and all the love and adoration they usually held for her started to diminish before he looked down.

"I, I will momma." The small boy sniffled and wiped away at his tears with the back of his gi covered arm.

**X X X X X X**

Nodoka stiffened for a moment at the recollection. Was the last 10 years of loneliness and isolation worth the acceptance of the Saotome family? Was it worth forcing her child to grow up? She loved Genma with all her heart, had given up all ties to her family for him, he was everything to her. But, 10 years was a long time to wait, and the letters he sent every month or so had not chased away the loneliness.

Now she could see it happening all over again, except now he could possibly go so far from her reach that she could never see him again. She could imagine the look in his eyes this time if she tried to force him into staying here for the engagement. Except this time there would be no second chances. Ranma didn't seem to remember her at all, and she wondered what could possibly have taken away those 5 years. How much of a mistake could the training trip have been?

Even the ever militant Saotome family had been confused over the training trip. Most of their children had spent at most 5 years away at a time. 10 years was simply unheard of and it made her feel proud that her husband was so dedicated to training her son. She tried not to show her anger as she remembered the day he took her from him. She had beaten him rather badly until he had created the seppuku pledge. Grudgingly she had accepted as it would ensure her husband kept in line and trained their son properly.

But it was all for naught. She could only imagine the shame that would come from her son's curse. Regardless of how strong in the art he had become, a Saotome male who could be a Saotome female would make waves across the small tight knit clan. The possibility of being kicked out was very real for them. Genma would be forgiven, after all it wasn't really his child that failed.

The option of forcing her husband and son to commit seppuku would clear the dishonor of their failing to live up to the contract as well as Ranma's expectation as a Saotome male. But then what? Alienated from her birth family and disliked by her current, she might as well join them in the afterlife. But unless that came to pass she would dismiss that depressing thought from her mind. For now she could enjoy her sons presence, get to know him all over again, and maybe someday he would look at her like he used to.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma was surprised when Ryo-ohki hopped back into the tea room. The small cabbit looked around before spotting him and seemed to explode with happiness. 'Wonder what she got into.' Quickly enough the cabbit was sitting on the floor in front of him making happy noises.

"Hey, remember I don't understand you." A blink blink from the cabbit was it's response before she went right back into describing something he couldn't understand.

"Shouldn't you be training Ranma?" Nabiki asked.

"For what?"

"The competition tomorrow dummy."

"I can handle it no problem." Putting pocky stick in front of Ryo-ohki the cabbit sniffed it a few times before starting to eat it. It was probably a bad idea to introduce sweets to an already hyper active rabbit thing. But she didn't seem to like it as much as a carrot so he should be safe.

"I do believe you should take this challenge more seriously son."

"Alright alright, sheesh you're all acting like i'm klutz girl over there." Akane bristled but with her twisted ankle being wrapped up in a large bag of ice she could do little to vent her anger. Ryo-ohki followed him obediently as he left the room. Nabiki followed shortly with a camera and Nodoka being curious about her sons skill followed a moment later. But not before she left Genma a message.

"Genma dear could you please clean up the guest room before bedtime?" She said sweetly her husband jerked like he was shot.

Inside the dojo, Ranma was busying setting up a practice dummy he had found in the dojo's supply closet. It wasn't much but waving around clubs and a ribbon without a target would feel incredibly silly. Pushing it lightly with his hand he found that the wide base provided a good structure to keep it stable. Of course any kind of hit would throw in across the dojo like a bouncy ball. Twirling a club experimentally he checked it's balance. Top heavy like an ax, but short enough to be responsive.

"Son, shouldn't you be female for this? After all you will be female for this match."

"Huh? I thought you wanted me to stay a guy as much as possible." This was a first, his manly obsessed mother was telling him to be a girl?

"Well, I guess certain allowances can be made. Surely there is a difference between the two that will affect your performance."

"Here ya go Ranma." Nabiki was holding up a bucket. She needed pictures of girl type Ranma after all. She missed the hungry look of Ryo-ohki as the cabbit eyed the camera strapped around her neck.

"Thank you Nabiki-chan."

"Yea thanks Nabiki." He resisted the urge to ask why she had a bucket of water with her. He also had to resisted the urge to go get more water and dump it on her after he found himself with a face full of it. That usually got a rise out of Ryoko but Nabiki wasn't a fighter and it wouldn't lead to any fun.

"You're welcome Ranma-kun. But shouldn't you be in a leotard as well?"

"Don't push it."

Hiking up her pants she tightened the drawstring, once satisfied they wouldn't fall down and trip her, she started to get a feel for the weapons. Obviously the clubs were easy enough to figure out, the hoop was odd but easy to throw, the large ball was ignored since it was too easy. The ribbon was the oddest one. It was like a whip that would hang in the air. It would be very useful as a distraction with the complicated patterns that could be drawn in the air.

Pausing for a second to feel the thin but strong fabric that made up the ribbon she lashed it out at the dummy several times. Finding that to do a further attack one needed to either spin their body to generate force or twirl it and wait till the tail had returned to her position. If she tried before then it wouldn't generate any force and would just fall limply to the ground.

"Well I'm done." Rewinding the ribbon around the small rod at the end she packed up the tools into the bag left by the gymnastics team.

"But you've only been at it for five minutes."

"Meh, all I needed to do was figure out the weapons. Everything else I've done before." Nabiki frowned, she had needed Ranma to get into a leotard and actually work out. Grumbling she left to go see if any of the pictures she did take were worth keeping.

"Are you sure that's enough son?"

"Yea i'm sure mom. Aint no way i'll lose."

"If you're certain." She was a bit worried, she still hadn't seen her sons full abilities. It was too bad that he hadn't had a proper sparring partner. "Let's go back inside and see if your father cleaned up the guest room. I would rather you didn't sleep in the dojo alone."

"Fine fine." She made a point to drag her feet as they walked back inside carrying her pack.

Surprisingly Genma had cleaned up the room, if by cleaned up she meant shoved all the trash in the corner and opened a window. She ended up sliding Genma's futon over to the window before grabbing the large double one kept for guests and placed it by the door. Placing her own bedroll between the two. Heading to the furo to get some hot water she found small tags placed over the hot water faucets.

"Oh i'm sorry Ranma-kun, but the hot water heater is broken." Kasumi appeared behind her. "It's the oddest thing, it was working fine earlier."

"I got some pajama's you can wear if you want Ranma-kun." Nabiki's smiling face appeared next to her sister.

"Pass." Grumbling about the injustice of it all and the stupidity of a certain panda she stalked back to the guest room to get changed from her damp clothes.

**X X X X X X**

"Ranma dear come to bed." Ranma turned to her mother standing at the door to the tea room. She was the last one up after finding a show on tv that she liked. Ryo-ohki was sleeping on one of the kneeling cushions at her side. "You're still a growing boy and need your sleep."

"Uh sure mom."

Hitting the power button she let Ryo-ohki sleep. Nodoka was wearing a white nemaki with small navy squares that made circle patterns. Watching her mother from the corner of her eye she noticed that her hair was undone from it's tight bun and cascaded down over her right shoulder. Unconsciously she played with her own red pigtail.

She never had looked much like Genma, thankfully. She tugged a little harder on the pigtail, going bald and getting that ugly would be horrible. While she really didn't want to have the curse longer than possible, Nodoka wasn't all that short, so there was hope that she wouldn't be a tiny midget if she had it for a long time. If the cursed form did actually age. Reaching the room they found Genma as a panda snoring loudly on his futon.

"Mom, what's it like being married to a panda?"

"Embarrassing."

Soon enough Ranma was the only one awake. Nestled in a warm blanket between her two parents she couldn't stop thinking about them. First off she started thinking about the panda. The parent that she remembered and who had raised her. He was a greedy idiot but he was all she knew, and occasionally he had shown himself to have good qualities. Though those had gotten rapidly few and far between as the years progressed.

The opposite was Nodoka, the calm, almost regal woman who was sleeping to the other side. The closest person she knew to Nodoka was Ayeka, but even the princess of Jurai would never think to use a seppuku contract. At first she had resented her and that stupid pledge. Especially at Nodoka's willingness to actually consider it. She was odd, going from manly obsessed to caring parent with the flip of a switch. Or maybe an application of water would be a better description.

But it seemed she was coming around to a more normal way of thinking and didn't seem that serious about the pledge anymore. She was after all the one who suggested she practice as a girl while previously telling her to stay out of girl form as much as possible. It wasn't like she had a choice most days, water had a way of finding her at the most inopportune moments. Especially when hot water would be out of reach.

Shifting to laying on her side she looked at what she could only consider her new parent. She frowned or in this form pouted cutely with the different sensations she got with her body from doing so. The shifting on her chest, the way her hips had to shift to one side twisting her back slightly in order for her body to lay flat. She had grown used to it but hoped never to find it normal.

A soft thumping noise came down the hall outside followed by a harder one against the door. She couldn't see past Nodoka but the thumping started again inside of the room and it moved around her moms head before revealing Ryo-ohki. The cabbit hopped up to sleep on the pillow next to Nodoka's head. 'Guess Ryo-ohki thinks she's ok now, I must be right in that she isn't really super nutso anymore.'

She focused even more when Nodoka's face started to become distressed. Propping herself up to her hands and knees she watched as a small tears started to fall from her mothers eyes.

"Ranma." Nodoka whispered. "Please, please don't leave me." Sliding forward she felt the rapid fire thumping of her heart as it hammered in her chest. "Please, not again."

"Mom I." Pausing she watched for any proof that Nodoka was awake. "I don't wanna have too."

Not receiving a response she hesitated before sliding underneath the blanket next to Nodoka. Brow furrowed in concentration, she tried in vain to remember if she had ever done this when little. Staring up at the ceiling she hoped that she wouldn't get in trouble for being so girly. 'Stupid emotional girl body.'

**X X X X X X**

Nabiki crept through the house towards the hot water heater. Her plan to keep Ranma a girl for a photo op hadn't panned out. She hadn't even gotten a picture of the red head in a leotard. Oh well it could wait till tomorrow evening at the match. Perhaps she could even convince Ranma to wear a better hair style, rather than that plain pigtail. It would certainly increase the price of a picture if Ranma had a sexy hairstyle.

But then again that had all the possibility of happening as her little sister falling in love with Kuno. Replacing the piece she removed, the heater kicked in and started to warm the cold water within. After all, there was no way she was taking a cold bath tomorrow.

**X X X X X X**

The morning festivities at the Tendo home started when a certain panda threw a certain redhead out into a certain pond. Said redhead then proceeded to spar with the overweight panda over top said pond. Said overweight lazy greedy panda found itself very very wet very quickly as an irate busty redhead showed her displeasure at the method of her waking.

"Genma dear I really wish you wouldn't have thrown Ranma out the window."

"Growf."

"Stupid Oyaji." Ranma returned wearing a matching black tank top and kung fu pants. Nodoka frowned for a moment at the barely decent nature of the tank top. Son or no, giving every boy in sight a nose bleed was unacceptable.

"Here's some hot water Ranma-kun." Kasumi held up a nearly boiling kettle.

"Thanks." Wincing as the far too hot water cascaded down his head Ranma let out his belt.

"After breakfast son would you walk me home?"

"Sure mom."

#What about school?# FLIP #Ranma has to protect Akane#

"I'm sure Akane will be fine."

#But she's his fiancée# FLIP #It's his MANLY and honorable duty#

"I don't believe my son picked a fiancée yet." Ranma instantly looked up from his food. "He was also wronged by Akane yesterday. Perhaps an apology is in order." Akane spit out her drink.

"Wronged by Akane? I'm not sure what you mean." Soun chuckled for moment.

"Oh yes, she threw water on him and exposed his curse yesterday to the classroom."

"I well, ya see I was just, it's not something I was trying, ya see it went, and then this happened, then I eeped, and it just happened."

Nodoka's eyes narrowed slightly at the flustered girl. She knew that Akane couldn't have meant any harm, she did seem like such a sweet girl. On the other hand she was at the time supposed to be her son betrothed and such actions were completely unacceptable.

"Is this true Akane?"

"It is." The dejected girl hung her head.

"Does the school know?"

"First I heard of it Daddy." Truthfully she had heard a rather large rumor about it, but the fantastical notion of Ranma turning from a girl to guy had made it die out real fast. Others of course had jumped up, such as Ranma being a master of disguise, something in the water causing everyone to turn into Kuno, and a few others.

"Well then no harm no foul."

#Thats right it's no problem#

Ranma frowned at their calm dismissal of him. He wasn't all that angry with Akane but she had done something that he understood required some kind of apology. Twice now actually considering her thoughts on what he did as a girl. But she had apologized for that and he didn't really hold grudges.

Nodoka smiled lightly and tried not to grind her teeth. Her husband could be so stubborn at times, and it appeared his old training buddy was the same way. She wanted the best for her son after all. And now Akane had a tick mark in both the good and bad categories of the spreadsheet in her mind. She was sweet but balanced against that was her impetuousness, which in the proper direction would be wonderful. 'Grandbabies!'

"Well I gotta get going."

"Hold on Nabiki i'll come with you."

Both sisters had different reasons for leaving early, Nabiki to start up a betting pool for the match later. Akane wanting to get to school before all the boys, who she didn't like the odds of fighting off with a twisted ankle.

"Up for a game of shogi Saotome-kun?"

#Always Tendo-kun#

"I'll just get started on the dishes then."

Mother and son shared a confused look and wondered how they were suddenly the only ones at the table, aside from Ryo-ohki who was in a happy carrot induced slumber.

**X X X X X X **

"Your boy is very good Saotome-kun."

#Of course# Another sign was held up. #I trained him to be the best!#

Playing shogi in the doorway to the koi pond Soun and Genma-panda would occasionally break to watch as Ranma practiced by moving around the yard. Occasionally stopping in some odd stance only to blur into action again. Soun may not have been the most active martial artist anymore but he still kept himself in shape. But even in his prime he would be hard pressed to keep up with the boy for more than a minute. How his old training partner who was in far worse shape than himself could do it was a testament to their training under the dreaded master.

Ranma for his part ignored the world around him and focused on his invisible opponent. He had no clue what Kodachi looked like but his current opponent was a vaguely female shape. Trying to remember how each of the tools he was supposed to do work he was working out ways that they could be used in a fight.

Leaping into the air he imagined a ribbon streaking through the air like a whip as it tried to hit him in mid air. Twisting and contorting his body he landed in a crouch alongside the koi pond. He had no desire to take another swim and it was good incentive that he not make a mistake. Taking a few calming breaths he wiped at some sweat on his forehead. It wasn't that warm out but it was sunny and he was leaping around like Ryo-ohki chasing carrots.

"Ranma-kun."

"Oh Kasumi-san, what is it?" The eldest Tendo was standing on the small stone path to the pond, Ryo-ohki at her side.

"If you aren't too busy can you bring something back for me?"

"I guess so."

"Wonderful, it's just a book I borrowed from Tofu-sensei."

"Tofu-sensei?"

"His clinic is on the way to school."

"Is it that acupuncture and moxibustion place?"

"That's the one." She smiled pleasantly and handed him a medical book.

"Hey, Ryo-ohki you wanna come?" A few happy noises and the cabbit was quickly perched on his head. "Lazy."

Quickly out of the gate he set off in the direction of the school. A sudden leap and startled cry from Ryo-ohki and he was up on the wall that lined the side of the road. Opening the book he found it to be just a bunch of useless medical stuff. Getting sick happened rarely enough, actually being injured hadn't happened since he was 10. Tucking it back under his arm he jumped past a break in the fence to the next portion without a thought.

Thankfully Genma hadn't bugged him earlier about being next to Nodoka. His old man must have been too sleepy or too happy about tossing him into the pond to notice. Thinking of the panda made him want to growl. His feelings for the man more or less encompassed hate, dislike, and mostly indifference. Genma was mostly an annoyance that had to be put up with, but that was before getting away and finding out that he liked being away from him. But not he found himself almost falling back into those same patterns, and not liking it one bit.

"Miyah." Hissing through his teeth he reigned himself in from jumping upwards in fright.

"Gah don't do that! Alright whatta ya want?" Looking up he found the cabbit pointing towards his right. Looking down and over a block he found a white corner post saying 'Acupuncture'.

"Oh, guess this is the place, thanks."

"Miyah." The cabbit scoffed and looked away.

"Alright i'm sorry I yelled at ya, but ya know how I get. I'll get you a carrot later." Cabbit placated he hopped off the fence and walked inside.

"Uh hello anyone here?"

The place seemed deserted, there was of course a place to leave off street shoes, with a supply of slippers for customers to wear. A small sitting area, a reception window that was closed and on either side of it were two doors. Then another door on the far right wall with the sign for bathroom on it. The door on the left suddenly opened to reveal a tall man with glasses and light brown hair wearing a dark grey almost black gi.

"Ah hello, I am Ono Tofu the tending physician here, can I help you young man?"

"Yea I was asked to bring this book back to you." Holding out the book the man took it.

"Oh this is, this is, this is the one I to loaned Kasumi-san." Stepping away quickly as the man's glasses fogged over, Ranma decided it would be best to leave. Especially when the man grabbed a skeleton and started to dance around the room.

**X X X X X X**

The match was set for 4pm and Ranma was now walking through the hall at St. Hebereke towards the dressing room. A member of the Furinkan team was flanking her, now without the bandages except for a band aid over her left cheek. Trying not to think about the horrible piece of clothing she would have to wear, as it was buried deep in the tool bag she carried, they came upon a girl leaning against the door opposite to the one she was to use. Directly next to the doors at the end of the hall was the entrance to the gymnasium.

The girl at her side, Ritsuko, stiffened and backed away as the other girl eyed her. Clad in the Hebereke school uniform the pale girl's black hair was tied in a pony tail to the left side of her head. She frowned at seeing the girl was about the same size as her guy form. 'Why the hell am I a midget?'

"I heard that they found a substitute, I did not think they would find the smallest little thing for me to face." The girls haughty tone instantly grated on Ranma. Sounding way too much like Kuno for her liking. "But where are my manners, I am Kuno Kodachi, the black rose of St. Hebereke."

"Any chance you're related to the idiot at Furinkan who runs around wearing a kendo uniform?"

"You must mean my elder brother. Did he perchance profess his undying love for you as well? You have my condolences, I can tell by the violent shiver that he did. Well may the best girl win." Not really wanting to be rude to a person who obviously suffered with a crazy brother she held out her hand to shake the others.

"Hold it." Blinking as Akane suddenly was between them and holding onto Kodachi's wrist. Akane had several bruises and looked like she had been in a fight.

"Tendo Akane why do you interfere in a sincere handshake for us to have an honest match?" Looking balefully at the taller girl Akane pulled the girls palm up to show three tacks between her fingers. "Oops, however did those get there?"

"I'm sure you had nothing to do with it, come on Ranma." A little shocked by the underhanded attack Ranma was dragged into the dressing room.

"What happened to you anyways?"

"Well first thing, I had to fight off a few guys at school this morning, that should explain this." Pointing towards a small bruise. "Then that psycho out there attacked me because she thought I was still going to be in the match. Which explains the rest."

"Ah, thanks for that outside."

"Ritsuko I should be able to handle this."

"Thank you Akane-san." The mousy girl took her leave.

"So why are you helping me?"

"Well, I was thinking about what your mom said earlier. And I wanted to apologize for splashing you yesterday." Akane bowed her head and waited.

"Meh it's no problem." She really wasn't one to hold a grudge. "What's with the flowers?" On the table was a large bouquet of black roses. Grabbing them she read the tag. 'Good Luck from the Black Rose.' was written on it in elaborate script and a stylized rose was on a side. Dropping it in disgust, the tack incident from outside making her think twice about what these roses were here for.

**X X X X X X**

Being the ever busy sort, Kasumi was sweeping the steps up to the front door. Ryo-ohki was busy inspecting some flowers near the entrance. She was caught off guard as a woman actually shimmered into existence in front of her.

"Oh my."

"Hey, you ready to go?" The woman ignored her and gruffly spoke to Ryo-ohki.

"Um excuse me, but who are you?"

"Eh?" The cyan haired woman looked her up and down then grabbed Ryo-ohki by the scruff of the neck. "I'm Ryoko."

"You're one of Ranma-kun's little friends then?"

"Little friend? Heh, I have no friends, i'm just here to get her back before watching Ranma's little match." The woman turned and looked to be about to walk away when she paused. "But thanks for taken care of her."

"Oh, you're welcome."

"Alright let's go." The woman once again shimmered out of existence.

"Oh my." Returning to work she wondered where she could find a pet as well behaved as Ryo-ohki.

**X X X X X X**

Inside of the gymnasium a group of five were finding seats alongside the Furinkan students. They were an odd group, one guy flanked by a pair of females with another pair following the trio. They got more than a few odd looks due to the brightly colored hair of three of the group. As well as the overly tanned blonde girl and the small rabbit like creature held by the one who looks about 10 with long blue hair.

"See we're right on time, I don't know what you were worried about princess."

"Perhaps if you weren't such a bother Ryoko-san we wouldn't have to worry."

"Hey come on now, can we not fight for five minutes?"

"Sorry." "Sorry Tenchi-sama."

**"Ladies and Gentlemen! St. Hebereke is proud to announce the champions of the schools!" **A high school girl in the center of the ring was announcing. **"In this corner, from your very own St. Hebereke school for girls, the undefeated, Kuno Kodachi!" **Loud applauds and screams erupted as a tall black haired girl sauntered into the ring, wearing a pale green leotard with black trim, a large black rose held in her mouth.

"Look! Look! It's Ranma-neechan!" Sasami shouted and pointed excitedly as Ranma walked out with a dark blue haired girl following her. Ranma was of course happy that she had been able to exchange that pink monstrosity for one green themed one.

**"And in this corner!" **The announcer began but then didn't recognize who the girl was. "Excuse me miss, what is your name?"

"Saotome Ranma." Leaping up and over the ropes the girl landed and stood in her corner.

**"From Furinkan High school, Saotome Ranma!" **No real cheers went up for Ranma as most of the occupants from Furinkan were busy whispering amongst themselves debating on the rumor of how she could change into a boy.

"See that I told you."

"Yea you're right, no way she's a guy."

"Totally, oh man I wish I would have brought a camera!"

**"Champions to the center!"** Watching the tricky girl Ranma approached the center. "Now shake hands." Looking suspiciously at the girls hand she held out her own to shake it. "Please return to your corners."

**"The rules for todays martial arts rhythmic gymnastics is as follows. No time limit, no bare handed blows, the match ends when one contestant is unable to compete and if either contestant falls from the ring she will be the immediate loser. Please ring the bell and let the match commence!"** More cheers from the crowd as a large bell was run several times.

Standing at the opposite corner of Kodachi, Ranma held onto her ribbon and a club. Kodachi had a rope in one hand and two clubs in the other.

"Ya know it aint my style to beat up girls, so i'll just have to knock you out of the ring!" Starting off with several ribbon attacks that were parried by the rope, Kodachi did her best impersonation of Ayeka in crazy mode and actually turned it up a notch.

"Oh oh oh oh oh! I thank you for the concern!"

"**Just what we have come to expect from the flower of martial gymnastics! She handles the rope as if it was a rod!"**

Getting in close she struck out with the club several times and combining it with a ribbon attack was able to dislodge the rope from the girls hand. It spun in mid air before landing on an end to the side of the ring. It stayed standing for a moment then fell down with a clang.

"**Wait a minute, it is a rod!"**

"Hey hey referee! Isn't that against the rules!" Akane yelled from the sidelines.

"As long as it's not a barehanded blow."

Dodging out of the way as Kodachi suddenly started to attack with the clubs. Noticing something odd about them she watched it closely as it came by her cheek. "Gak!" Small spikes shot out of the club and nearly stabbed the side of her face.

"Oh come on ref! That club has spikes!"

"Huh? I don't see any spikes."

Stopping another spike club with her own normal one she reached up quickly and grabbed it from Kodachi's hand.

"How dare you take my weapon!"

"Oh yea whatcha gonna do bout it?"

"Hoop!"

"Insolent girl! For stealing my tool I shall punish you!" The hoop made an odd noise as it moved through the air. Jumping up and over it she turned to watch as it sliced cleanly through the ring post.

"What the hell is that!"

**"Amazing, it was a razor blade!" **Before the spinning hoop of death could get any further Kodachi's ribbon snapped forward and stopped it. Kodachi smirked and tugged backwards dragging the hoop back towards her opponent. Stuck in mid air Ranma would have no chance at dodging.

"I have you now!" Years of mid air training allowed Ranma to twist and contort her body to have the ring pass harmlessly by. "Uh oh!" Kodachi being in the direct line of the ring, ducked to the side as the ring passed by to strike the mat at the base of a ring post.

"If you can't just get out of the ring like a good girl then I'll just have to make you!" Twirling the two clubs she now had like nunchuka.

"How laughable! Now witness the secret technique of the black rose! The blow of a thousand hands at full frenzy!" Ranma was caught slightly off guard by the ferocity and speed of the attack and Kodachi's arm blurred into motion.

**"It's like she's using twenty clubs!"** Parrying every jab Ranma wasn't getting slightly annoyed. This girl was fast and really knew her stuff. Not nearly as fast as she was but with the added experience from years of using this stuff it gave the girl a slight edge in their application. 'Heh looks like a screwed up a little bit.'

"Ranma catch!" Leaping into the air as Akane tossed the rubber ball up she spiked it down into Kodachi's hands snapping the clubs from them. Landing and balancing on the rope she watched as twenty clubs fell to the ground.

"Hey she was using twenty clubs!"

"She takes foul play to new lows!"

"This is only the beginning! As the true essence of martial rhythmic gymnastics is control of an endless arsenal of weapons!" Leaping up onto a ring post she lashed out with her ribbon to grab the bell.

**"It's a deadly bell assault!"** Rolling over to the metal bar Kodachi had used earlier she brought it up and with a great clang the bell went flying off to land beside the ring.

"Two can play at this game!" Slamming the rod into the canvas she slipped behind it as another ribbon attack wrapped itself around it. Leaping up to the next post over from Kodachi she snagged the entire announcer table with her own.

**"And she snags the table! What an innovation!"** Not to be outdone Kodachi grabbed her brother Tatewaki. **"And Kodachi counters with her own brother!!"** The two objects collided, the thick wood of the table verses the thick head of Kuno.

"**Is using ones own brother considered legal?!"**

"Use of brother valid!" The judges chorused.

"What the hell is illegal to you!?" Akane yelled getting in the judges faces.

"Not a lot?" They whimpered to the face of the enraged girl.

**X X X X X X **

**"This is a battle for the ages! Neither champion is yielding a single step!"** Pausing for a moment the announcer looked around the ring. **"Then again where do they have to step?!" **The ring was covered with debris from the objects the pair had pulled in from outside of the ring.

Inside of the ring both Ranma and Kodachi were slightly out of breath as they struck blows at each other with their ribbons.

"Such a stubborn little girl you are!"

"Blah you're one to talk!"

Next to the ring Akane was waiting to see what crazy thing would be pulled out by the pair in the ring. Truth be told she was a bit concerned with how they were throwing around heavy objects with delicate ribbons. Finding a hand resting on her shoulder she turned to find a panda holding a tea kettle and some glasses of tea.

"Saotome-san?" A cup of tea was pushed in her face. "What the? This is no time for sipping tea!" A wrapped bundle suddenly hit the panda over it's head.

"Genma dear."

#Yes wife?"

"I have two questions, well three. One why are you a panda."

#Got splashed#

"Alright, two, why are you sitting next to the ring?"

#Is good seat no?#

"Ok so then why are you sipping tea?"

#I'm thirsty# FLIP #Want some?# The kettle was suddenly ripped from Genma's paw by a ribbon.

"Even a cockroach will surrender in the face of the boiling water attack!" Holding up the kettle Kodachi smirked at the sudden look of terror that came over the annoying red heads face. Leaping forward she attempted to pour the boiling liquid over the tiny girl and missed.

"**Saotome Ranma retreats! But then that water does look awfully hot!"**

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh! Do you not care for hot water?" Backed into a corner Ranma looked for a way out. 'If I get splashed and turned back into a guy wearing this thing I'll never live it down!'

"Now suffer my hot water attack!" As one their ribbons snapped forward and wrapped the kettle up between them. Both girls pulled and tugged trying to take it away from the other.

"Insolent wench!"

"Oh yea?!" Ranma smiled and released her ribbon. Kodachi's eyes widened as she fell ungracefully onto her backside and the kettle upended it's contents on her.

"AIIEEEEE!!"

"**Oh no Kodachi has been splashed by her own attack!"**

"Ha ha! Ready to give up yet?"

"Never!" Up and in her face with another spiked club Ranma dodged by bending backwards at the waist. Returning to standing she found the club in her face again. Rolling backwards she got into a handstand and caught the club between her feet.

"Stop being such a pain!" Pulling down on the club she kicked it up into Kodachi's stomach at the handle sending the girl flying out of the ring.

"**Wait! Now Kodachi is flying out of the ring! Is this the end?!"**

Righting herself in air Kodachi pulled a whistle out from around her neck. Before giving it a quick high pitched whistle. The entire ring started to shake and Ranma was thrown on her backside as the ring shifted of to where Kodachi would fall. Spectators and seats were thrown as it came to rest underneath the falling girl.

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh! Out is an impossibility for me!"

Ranma looked between Kodachi, noticing the whistle, and looking own at the mat. In the crowd, everyone's eyes threatened to bulge from their heads as the tiny red head literally ripped the ring mat from it's place and threw it to where the ring had been. Both contestants leapt up onto ring posts and glared at one another.

**"I uh, well after that amazing show of strength Saotome Ranma has exposed the St. Hebereke gymnastics team. The secret of the moving ring is shown to be woman power! Wave bye bye as the team makes their way calmly out of the arena everyone!"** Turning to the score keeper she added. "Do we have a video camera capturing this?"

"**But now that the mat has been torn away, with only the ropes and posts to stand on, the first fall loses!"**

Standing on a post the opposite corner of Kodachi, Ranma watched as the girl grabbed her razor wing with the ever present ribbon. 'Ha mid air combat is my specialty, this is my chance to end this.' Stepping along the rope she watched as Kodachi hurled the ring at her. Stopping she watched it as it hit the rope in front of her. 'Oh wait a second.'

"ACK!" Flailing from the unprepared free fall she found a ribbon tightly around her neck.

"Such impudence! To think you could defeat me!" Gasping as she was hauled high into the air over the ring.

**"Saotome Ranma is going to fall to the center of the ring!"** Pulling the ribbon from her neck she yanked it from Kodachi's hands.

"Like that's gonna happen!" Throwing it upwards she caught the rafters. "I'll just kick you off!" Swinging forward in a kick she stopped short of a calmly standing Kodachi.

**"And now she falls back like a pendulum!"** Swinging backwards she dodged out of the way as Kodachi threw several clubs at her.

"And now the final blow!" The last club snapped the ribbon and she was released to fly into the ropes. Gathering up her energy as the rope grew taught like a rubber band she was launched at Kodachi.

"**Is this a rope propelled body blow?!"**

"Fool you cannot attack barehanded!" Blocking several more clubs in mid air she threw a kick at the ring post underneath Kodachi.

"My weapon is right under your feet!"

The crowd gasped and held their breaths as Kodachi sat defeated inside of the ring. Ranma was gripping the bottom of the post with her feet, her back arched as she held onto the top part of the post that was now positioned between Kodachi's legs.

**"Ku, Kuno Kodachi is out of the ring!"** The referee ran up to hold a not exactly there Ranma's hand up. **"The winner Saotome Ranma!"**

"A, total defeat." Kodachi left off a sigh as she sat in the center of the ring.

**X X X X X X**

Tenchi had wanted to go up and congratulate the brightly smiling redhead as she preened in front of a group of people. But he froze his eyes locked on her face, that vivid red hair, bright blue eyes, and that infectious smile. His eyes nearly exploded from his head. Quickly ducking away from everyone he ran as fast as he could to the only male lavatory. Ducking his hands under some cold water he splashed his face repeatedly.

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no." Rubbing his face as violently as he could he tried to wash out the image that was now burned into his mind.

How could this possibly happen? He had two women that were throwing themselves at him, literally with great force they threw themselves at him and begged for his attention. Why? What possible reason could be there be for this to happen?

Ranma, who had saved him from Ryoko, helped him escape from Ayeka's ship, an absolutely incredible martial artist as that match had just demonstrated, and who just so happened to turn into a girl with an application of cold water.

"No no no no no no no no no!"

Ranma was a guy! Not a girl, it was just a curse that would be cured the first chance he got. His dad had told him a day like this would come. He would meet a girl and it would happen. But why this one? Why why why!?

**X X X X X X **

"Hmm? I thought Tenchi would be with you guys." Ranma had recovered as quick as ever.

"Huh where is Tenchi?"

The assembled group was in the hallway so Ranma could get changed. Added to the group from the Masaki shrine was Nodoka. Ranma's mother was inspecting the young women around her. While they certainly had an odd look to them they seemed human enough and were all very pretty, or would be in the case of the little girl.

Odd didn't really describe the tall well built blonde girl with blue eyes like her son and overly tanned skin. Though she was the only one wearing clothes she recognized, consisting of a pink sweater and khaki pants. The woman struck her as rather childish but she had acted in similar detached manner before. Most often around her husband in a way to get him to do as she pleased without seeming demanding. Usually such people used it to hide pain or to distract others.

The little girl with sky blue hair also stood out and wore clothing that seemed to match the purple haired girl. It was vaguely like a kimono but was obviously different and in a green and blue coloring. The girl had the brightest pink eyes she had ever seen, she didn't even think it was possible for people to have eyes that color. Combined with the freckles across the bridge of her nose, two small green triangles on her forehead, and hair done up in long pigtails,she had to resist the urge to yell 'Cute' and hug the girl who was holding the equally cute Ryo-ohki. The cabbit's presence only adding to the cute factor.

The one she assumed to be the girls big sister, as she kept referring to her, had long dark purple hair pulled back in twin tails that fell down to her knees. She had similar clothing but in variations of purple. Her eyes were a red bordering on burgundy. Unlike the little girl she held herself with great poise and grace, and she was finding herself instantly liking the girl. 'So these two must be the princesses.'

Watching the other female of the group, this one had garnered most of the looks aside from the blonde. She had wild cyan hair swept back behind her head, there was a video game character that it reminded her of, some kind of blue rodent that moved really quickly. Her clothing wasn't that odd, being a long blue dress with beige horizontal stripes, a small orange obi was tied around her waist with a sash that fell to her knees coming from the back for some reason. She was crude and hung off the young man from the shrine like a cloak. She flaunted her beauty in almost an uncomfortable way. And she had the most striking golden eyes that she could swear she had seen before.

"I'm here." An uncertain Tenchi walked in from the gym doors. "I just had to use the lavatory." Mentally adding. 'And considered suicide before Ranma kills me in a violent painful way.'

"Tenchi-sama you're wet."

"I just had something in my eye, nothing to worry about I got it." Chuckling nervously he hoped everyone would buy it.

"Hello again Masaki-san."

"Saotome-san it's nice to see you again."

"I'm gonna go get changed outta this stupid thing." Ranma looked disgustedly down at the leotard and went inside to change.

"Masaki-san perhaps you could introduce me? I recall seeing these pretty young ladies at your home but did not have time to meet them."

"Oh i'm sorry Saotome-san. This is Ryoko, Ayeka-san, Sasami-chan, and Mihoshi-san" Aside from Ryoko each girl bowed to her. "And please call me Tenchi."

"It's nice to meet all of you."

"We hope Ranma-san has been well Saotome-sama. We've missed him at the shrine. His presence helps keep certain, people, in line." A baleful look at Ryoko who returned it with a stuck out tongue accompanied that last statement.

"Please just Nodoka, or Aunty, Ayeka."

"As you wish Nodoka-sama. But it would be impolite for me to refer to you in such an informal way."

"Nonsense, any friend of my son, especially a lovely young lady such as your self is welcome to call me whatever you wish."Ayeka blushed a tiny bit at the praise as Ranma came back out of the dressing room wearing street clothes. On the opposite side an indignant Kodachi stepped out in her school uniform. The girl huffed and looked away from Ranma, still in female form.

"I suppose I should be the bigger girl and extend the olive branch of friendship."

"Well I gotta admit you aren't half bad."

"A backhanded compliment but as the loser I must accept the indignanty and swollow any retort." The pair shook hands before Kodachi left. 'Oh my sons so chivalrous! Even when a girl!'

"Told ja I could handle it. I'm the best after all." Then again watching her son gloat with her hands behind her head she may have to revise that opinion.

"Well son, let's head back to the Tendo's so you can clean up. Kasumi said that she was going to make something special tonight. Oh where are my manners, would you like to join us?" She asked the assembled group, after all there was no way that these women ate as much as her son and husband

"We would be honored Nodoka-sama."

Ryoko smirked, this was perfect. Ayeka seemed to like the woman and the woman seemed to like her. This may just be the thing she needed to get that annoying princess away from Tenchi and towards Ranma. Now if only she could get a little time alone, talk up whatever good qualities she could lie about the princess with a strait face, and then she would be all set to live happily forever with Tenchi.

Ayeka was thinking a similar thought except just the opposite. If she could get in good with Ranma's mother than she could point her in the right direction to have her son go for Ryoko. Mothers were of course naturally nosy in the affairs of their children and perhaps the idea of a daughter in law she could mold would appeal to her. It was a long shot, as the most likely event would be the woman viewing her, with her naturally superior Jurain heritage as the best candidate. But let it be known that she did not back down from a challenge.

**X X X X X X**

Leaning back in the furo Ranma let the incredibly hot water soak into his sore muscles. It was also nice to be back into his male form with absolutely no possibility of being changed into a girl at least for a short while. Taking a wash cloth and soaking it in the hot water he folding it before putting it over his eyes. Leaning back further till he was almost floating freely in the water he let off a contented sigh.

Everyone in the house was getting along reasonably well. Tenchi had seemed a bit distant, but with both Ayeka and Ryoko actually leaving him alone. He could understand the guy being a bit worried about his health later. He grew kinda worried about that as well as they had wanted to spend time with his own mom. Luckily they had been shoo'd from the kitchen so that Kasumi, Nodoka, and Sasami could cook. The pair had attempted to cook once, and he shivered remembering the mess and horrible food that had resulted.

"Son, dinner will be ready shortly." Nodoka's voice carried through the door after a few small knocks.

"I'll be right out."

Leaving the safe haven of the furo he toweled himself off and put on a set of clean clothes. They weren't anything special, just a red tai chi shirt and black kung fu pants he had picked up in China on the way back from Jusenkyo. He had others that were the same but for some reason he liked these the best.

Out in the tea room, outfitted now with a second table to accommodate the extra guests. Tenchi was sitting closer to the other males of the room. Everyone seemed to be getting along, though with the two fathers it was a bit strained. That and as a male he was a bit intimidated by all estrogen in the room. There wasn't much cross chatter between the two groups but no brawls had erupted so he was happy. He wasn't really sure on the details of the arranged marriage but maybe the fathers thought the females in his life were attempting to steal Ranma away.

Which was rather off the mark, since none of the females currently staying with him were actually interested in Ranma. Suddenly he wanted to go back to the shrine and throw himself down the steps repeatedly. That was the worst thing, he was the only one interested in Ranma, even if it was his cursed form. He could only imagine Ranma if he ever found out, but he figured it would involve a beating and almost assuredly a very painful death.

"So son do you practice any martial arts?" The Tendo patriarch broke into his self destructive musings.

"Yes sir, I practice my families sword style."

"Any good hand to hand?" Genma asked.

"Just some basic kempo."

"Always good to have options. One of the things I've always taught my boy. Use anything you can put your hands on."

"You're the one who taught Ranma?"

"Trained him to be the best I did."

"And an excellent job you did Saotome-kun." Tenchi just nodded, it was hard to think that this overweight guy could have taught Ranma. He didn't even think the man would run a kilometer, let alone keep up with Ranma, who seemed to have an endless supply of energy.

He was saved from embarrassment as Ranma, in male form, sat down as far from him as possible. Tenchi felt he could handle a male Ranma but he bet he'd break down into stutters if he had to deal with the female. Ranma of course received a fair share of congratulations about his victory, as well as several from Sasami and Mihoshi about how cute Ranma had looked. This nearly caused Tenchi to choke, getting him a few odd looks.

Nodoka was enjoying the fact that everyone was getting along reasonably well, and the better reason, that everyone was enjoying the food prepared by her, Kasumi, and Sasami. It had been far too long since the last time she prepared a meal for both her son and husband. She stumbled a bit with her food at that thought. Ranma had clearly said he was only staying for the match and was fully planning on leaving afterwards.

Looking at her son as he ate at a fast pace but still found time to occasionally get a word in with one of the girls from outer space. It was an easy change to notice. He was comfortable around these people, while around the Tendo's and her, he was guarded and kept his distance. She fidgeted for a moment with the bundle containing the honor blade to pull out the contract.

"Nodoka-sama what is that?" She had wanted to do this quietly but now all eyes were drawn to her. Her husbands eyes were about the size of dinner plates and her son just stared at her blankly unable to come up with a feeling.

"Just bad memories." Tearing it up into small pieces she excused herself to deposit them in the trash. She would have preferred a fire, which would feel more final, but this would have to do. When she came back she found her husband with a look of supreme joy and relief. Her son still didn't seem able to come up with an emotion and was eating his food slowly for a change, obviously troubled by her actions.

**X X X X X X**

Dinner ended without much further incident. That is except for the punishment Genma received for trying to steal food from Ryoko's plate. The cyan haired space pirate had not taken kindly to someone taking good food from her. As with most punishment from women Genma ended up the worse for wear after being hit by an energy blast from Ryoko. As what seemed like a cosmic certainty it had resulted in the man being thrown into the koi pond to float face up, unconscious, a panda, and highly singed.

Sitting on the porch and watching Sasami and Ryo-ohki as they played around the koi pond, Ranma chuckled when Sasami would occasionally poke a still unconscious panda with a stick. Ranma felt a hand rest on his shoulder. "Son would you come with me to the dojo for a minute?" Nodding he followed Nodoka.

"Son, are you still planning to return to the shrine?"

"I, I, want to." He didn't really want to look at her face, to see her disappointed. As stupid as the whole arranged marriage was, it was a matter of family honor, and he was running away from it.

"A mother comes up with expectations for her child, I unfortunately have had 10 years to build up a fantasy about how you would turn out. I won't lie and tell you that you've lived up to them." He jerked a bit at this, he wasn't perfect, but then again who was? He was of course really really close.

"But I've also seen from your actions, in a difficult situation, that while your intentions are not always honorable. You do not wish to harm those around you, and seek honorable resolutions when possible. After all you did wish to be cured before meeting a fiancée. You faced the possibility of seppuku, though you had a curse that made living up to the terms of the contract almost impossibly difficult."

Nodoka paused and considered how to continue. She was already forgetting the rehearsed lines she had come up with. "Seeing you today, dressed and competing in a competition as you were, I would have a hard time calling you physically manly. I am sorry that my own actions caused you to be entered in that. But your actions in defending the honor of a school you did not go to and that of Akane, who was attacked by that girl, certainly are."

"There are, reasons, why certain things are expected of you. But I have always wanted your happiness to come first. While your time here has been admittedly short, I can see by your interactions with those from the Masaki shrine that you won't accept living here. Along with the information you told me last night, I've, I've decided that if you wish to leave, I won't try to stop you."

"You, you're just letting me go?"

"Not exactly, but I've realized that the fantasy world I had dreamed would come true, will not. Holding on to that impossible dream could only result, it could only result in me losing my only child."

"Mom, I."

"Eh? What's going on here?" Shaken from the serious moment Ranma found Ryoko phasing through the wall behind Nodoka. Thankful for the small miracle of Ryoko not showing off for once.

"Ryoko what are you doing?!"

"Well if you're going to be like that..."

"Alright alright sorry, what is it?"

"We're heading back, you comin?"

"Um." Looking to his mother to the side he tried to figure out if this was some trick. It wasn't above Genma to pull sneaky underhanded tactics. He didn't expect it of her, but he really didn't know her at all. Fortunately Nodoka just nodded sadly.

"Yea, lemme just go grab my stuff." Not wanting to give Nodoka a chance to rethink her decision he ran off to the guest room.

"Ryoko?" Nodoka smiled at the wild woman.

"Hmm?"

"What is your relationship to my son?"

"Eh?"

**X X X X X X**

Enjoying her last few minutes with the alien women, Nodoka couldn't keep a smile from her face. The interactions between them were certainly erasing any doubts she had over her decision. Ignoring Tenchi, they were all nice young women in their own way and they had traveled all the way from Okayama just to watch her son compete. 'How did they find out about that anyways?'

"What's up? I thought we were leavin?" Ranma appeared around the corner of the building with his pack filled with almost everything he owned. He smirked at Genma still laying unconscious in the koi pond. 'That will make this a lot easier.'

Appearing behind Ranma Soun took in a deep breath and created his demon head attack. "What's with the pack?! Are you planning on leaving!? What about the engagement to my daughter?!"

"AAAH!" Ranma was instantly hiding behind Ryoko and forming warding gestures. Sighing at the childish antics of an old man Nodoka walked up with a pin and popped the attack.

"Tendo-kun i'll explain everything to you once they've left."

"But Nodoka, the engagement, the honor pledge, the joining of the schools!"

"Please Tendo-kun, try and contain yourself. We'll discuss it later."

"But the schools!" Soun wailed and broke into tears.

"Thanks mom."

"You're welcome son."

"Well now that we've seen what a big baby Ranma is." Ryoko earned an indignant 'Hey!' from Ranma, but she ignored him and threw Ryo-ohki high up into the air.

"AH! What are you doing!?" Several people were up in Ryoko's face for throwing the tiny creature into the air.

"Look up." Following instructions they saw Ryo-ohki explode out and change into a large space ship. The main body was a red sphere with a large black spire that went directly down. Around the sphere were four more spikes that tilted upwards.

"Wha wha wha wha wha wha wha." The Tendo's, Saotome's, Tenchi, Mihoshi, and Sasami all stuttered. Those in the know about Ryo-ohki, had thought she would grow up and become a space ship, not just turn into one before their eyes.

"I see, so that is how Ryo-ohki could hide from the Galaxy Police." Ayeka was impressed with the sheer change in mass, it certainly explained why the small creature could eat so much. But surely the creature hadn't gotten this much mass from the carrots it was addicted to.

"Jealous princess?"

"Of course not."

"Ry Ryoko! What are you doing!? You can't just do that in the middle of a city!"

"Calm down Tenchi, no one will care. Besides what are they gonna do? Well you ready Ranma?"

"Uh, I guess so." Able to tear his eyes away from the giant space ship hovering over the home he spared a glance to Nodoka. "Mom, i'll be sure to visit ya."

"I, I as well." Nodoka was unable to move her eyes from the thing the cute rabbit creature had become.

"Oh almost forgot, you wanna trip back to your place?" Ryoko was addressing Nodoka. Ranma was, she wouldn't say friend, but he was someone who was usually fun to be around and could put up a decent fight. Ryo-ohki's memories had also said Nodoka lived a fair distance from this place. It would give her a short time to smooze with the woman about hooking Ranma up with Ayeka. The little chat earlier had just been about her, she wasn't interested in Ranma, so that had been worthless.

"Is it safe?" Marginally more prepared for the odd sight, or at least that space ships existed Nodoka was out of the 'Wha wha wha' stage. And was now in the intensely curious stage.

"Hey Ryo-ohki bring us up."

"Miyah!"

Channels of bright orange rings shot down from the ship and encircled the visiting group from the Masaki shrine including Ranma and Nodoka. Their forms lifted off the ground slightly before disappearing. The ship gave off another happy Miyah and rocketed off into the sky.

The four Tendo's just stared up into the sky at where Ryo-ohki's ship form had been. In the pond the still unconscious form of Genma just floated lazily, occasionally bumping a side, sending him spinning or moving in a new direction.

"I think i'm going to go to bed."

"Yes Nabiki I think that would be for the best."

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

Nodoka's maiden name is common in Okayama according to some online site. Just a pointless little connection. As for Nodoka's back story, well I wanted something that would give her reason to be a little more obsessive about the whole manliness thing. But to also give her a bit of leeway. I also wanted to get rid of Genma as the Saotome family head that plagues so many fics. The guy's an idiot, unless he was the last of the family you think someone would put him in charge?

It's hard to have Ranma be adopted but have Nodoka and Genma act the same as canon. Especially for those early years. A note about me making him small for his age, I've seen conflicting translations about the time Ranma was taken on the training trip. Add to it that he looks like a baby in the flashback I thought I'd come up with a reason while still keeping with the accepted 10 year time period.

Reason Kodachi didn't preemptively attack Ranma at the Tendo's was because it was such short notice that she didn't have time to find out who was the replacement. Though she did find out about Akane and so attacked her at school.

Nemaki – sleeping robe. Same one from volume 28 chapter 2 or 291 if you are looking through a chapter listing. It's probably not exactly what she was wearing but close enough. (Not sure on colors) And frankly you never see her wear anything that isn't traditional.

Honestly I'm really sorry about what I did to Tenchi, but it does make a little sense, and it will be an **UNREQUITED LOVE**. First time he saw Ranma was as a girl, as a reviewer pointed out a while ago, first impressions are rather big in terms of setting the interactions with people. Add to that the weirdness of their first night around each other, it would probably be more ingrained in his head to see Ranma as a girl. More so than the following week where Ranma still had to spend a decent amount of time as a girl due to having no easy way to get hot water through most of it.

It's a spur of the moment thing which is why there isn't much of a lead up to it though I haven't really spent much time with Tenchi other than a couple small spots. Though there are small unintentional ones and even one noticed by Ranma about Tenchi never sharing a bath because he would see Ranma-chan. Even though hot water would mean Ranma-kun.

If the idea of having Tenchi being fought over by Ryoko and Ayeka all the while secretly pining for Ranma-chan is poorly received I'll get rid of it. But now that it's in my head all the possibilities for misunderstands and chaos make me giggle uncontrollably.

I realized that I neglected Ryoko and her penchant to use a sash as a tail. I'll try and include it a little more, since I am basing her abilities off the OVA.


	8. No Need for Goblins

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

This chapter turned out kinda weird, in some ways I like it, in other ways I don't. I liked some parts of the bickering between Ranma and Ryoko, but I think another character feels off and doesn't have the energy she should. Or she has too much and just blows by the other characters. It's also different in that some things are explained in this one, and most if not all the time I try and stay away from characters explaining things to each other.

Then again this is what should be a two part shindig. But enough babble, on with the show.

Edit- Fixed a typo with Washu's last name.

**X X X X X X**

Shampoo eyed her prey from behind the wall of a home. It was early in the morning, the best time to hunt. The girl was a heavy sleeper, but she was able to dodge and attack in her sleep with unnatural precision. In fact Ranma was more dangerous in sleep than awake. Awake the girl would run, asleep she would attack. But in that short time between asleep and awake the girl was vulnerable.

She had lost track of her red haired target in Okayama, fortunately the girls pet panda drew a crowd and she had been finally able to track it to a place called Nerima in Tokyo. It was staying at some home. On top of that her target had resurfaced briefly for a competition last night that the girl had won. Cursing her bad luck for missing such an opportunity, she thanked her ancestors for the good luck of having the information she needed close at hand.

The panda was remarkably intelligent, communicating with another male with signs, it was just too bad she couldn't read japanese. But the male seemed to repeat enough so that she could get the general direction of the conversation. Some boy sharing the same name as her target had left last night. Something else about being unable to join the two schools. Generally just a lot of nonsense she didn't care about.

Nabiki was not a morning person. Check that she was not a person until at least 11am and that was on a good day. And after the events of yesterday, well she didn't really know what to think. That small rabbit thing Ranma had been carrying around for three days had suddenly turned into a giant flying thing. Then they had proceeded to just disappear, it was like out of some cheesy anime. She had been so shocked she hadn't even taken any pictures of it.

Now she had to deal with her father crying his eyes out along with their unwanted house guest. Standing back a safe distance from the water works and tapping her foot she debated on how to handle this. Surely there was money to be made with all that had gone on, the question was how? The group had headed back to the Masaki shrine, she would have to look up where that was later. The first step for anything would have to be to find them and get in good with whoever controlled that thing.

"Daddy you're going to die of dehydration if you keep crying."

"Oh Nabiki, isn't it horrible Saotome-kun's son ran away!"

"Sheesh Daddy, if you miss him so bad why don't you just go find him?"

#We don't know where he went!#

"And Nodoka won't tell us!" And now Nabiki was at a crossroad, she could tell her father and they would probably get dragged on another trip to Okayama, though this time just the fathers and Akane. Or she could keep quiet and go about it herself. But Ranma seemed independent, except for when his mother wanted something. That would be the third option and most likely to succeed. Convincing Nodoka to help her out would help get Ranma a bit more pliant.

"I suppose I could talk with her."

"You would do that for me Nabiki?"

#At a girl#

"Well, It's a for family honor, right?"

"Oh Nabiki I've never been so proud of you before!" Rolling her eyes as her father enveloped her in a bear hug she hoped she wouldn't be too wet when he finally let her go.

Shampoo frowned as she watched the trio. The male and the panda not knowing anything was to be expected. And this girl didn't seem to know anything either, but this Nodoka person did, and this Nabiki girl would bring her there.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma awoke with a violent sneeze. Wiping his nose a bit he hoped that it wasn't anyone thinking about him. Heading outside of his room he found that the sounds of Sasami making something in the kitchen. Checking below he jumped over the railing, landing he headed towards the kitchen. Inside Sasami was hard at work with some soup over the burner. Ryo-ohki was sitting on the floor watching everything with her usual interest for all things food.

"Morning Sasami."

"Ah Ranma-niichan good morning."

"Miyah!"

"Whatcha makin?" Peeking over the girls shoulder he found a bubbling orange liquid.

"Some carrot soup for Ryo-chan."

"Ah, where's everybody at?"

"Tenchi-niichan is up with Ojiichan, Ayeka-neechan is helping Mihoshi-neechan with laundry, and Ryoko-neechan is, actually I don't know."

"Probably sleeping in the rafters again. She's even lazier than this one." Sasami insisted on labeling everyone as a relative, you either got used to it, or you got swallowed up by the sheer number of additions to peoples names. Petting the slightly indignant cabbit he walked out to find the space pirate. Perhaps she would be a bit more lively and he could see her abilities some more.

**X X X X X X**

Nodoka smiled at her reflection as she finished her morning preparation. She had gotten a late start to the day. She had been too excited to sleep after actually flying around in a real live space ship. It had been, well she didn't really have the entire day to run through all the emotions that had ran through her head. But what she could do is understand why her son would not agree to such an earthly future.

Hearing a knock at the door she quickly went to answer if just to take her mind off things. Making sure her kimono was in place she opened the outside gate. Finding Nabiki standing in the entrance wearing some faded blue jeans and a yellow sweatshirt.

"Oh hello Nabiki, how can I help you?"

"Good morning Saotome-san, I'm here to speak with you about a certain family matter. Might I come in?"

"Of course dear, please come in." Standing aside she let Nabiki enter before closing the gate. Leading the way she resigned herself to the talk that was coming. Yesterday she had made a choice and it was too late to back out now. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"I'm fine thank you."

"Please have a seat." Gesturing inside the tea room she sat down across from the girl. "So what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? And you do seem a bit shaken, is something the matter?"

"Well can you blame me after last night?"

"No certainly not."

"You don't seem to be that thrown off by seeing a big floating ship in the sky. Which you took a ride in I might add."

"As the wife of a martial artist I've seen many strange things." Nabiki didn't believe that for one second. What happened last night wasn't something that you see even as a martial artist, let alone just the wife of one. Getting confrontational however would not accomplish her goals. She wasn't even sure how to accomplish her goals. Right now her plan was, in a word, lacking.

First find Ranma

Second Get in good with the owner to that ship

Third ??

Fourth Profit !! (1)

"The real reason I came to talk, is about the engagement. My father, and your husband, are upset over you allowing Ranma to leave."

"Oh is that all?"

"It does pertain to the honor of both our families."

"It does, however I do not think discussing such matters with you would be proper."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing against you but you are not in possession of all the facts."

"Maybe you could enlighten me then?"

"I'm sorry but they are very personal family matters."

Outside the room Shampoo was listening from around the corner. The girl was easy to track, even more so than the panda. The home she had tracked her to was smaller than the other, but in a better neighborhood. No warriors were around and she was able to easily slip into the home unnoticed.

But what she was hearing didn't make sense. Ranma was a girl, why would she be engaged to another woman? Was there a possibility that she had found the wrong Ranma? No, the odds of a red haired japanese girl and a pet panda traveling together were too unique to have a duplicate.

"Personal matters or not, his choice involves my family and I would like to at least speak with Ranma."

"I suppose that is reasonable. Ranma is currently staying at the Masaki shrine outside Okayama. If you wish to see him I could give you the phone number in order to contact him."

"Do you mind writing down the address and phone number?"

"Let me just go get a piece of paper."

"Thank you." Nabiki let out a sigh as the woman left. Whatever personal matters that she had, Genma didn't share in the least. Neither had she for that matter when Ranma had been first brought to their home. So what had changed in the twice that the pair had been alone together?

"Here you go."

"Thank you, I'm sorry to take up your time, but I really must be leaving."

"Nonsense, perhaps if you are wanting to visit the shrine we could go together? I was thinking of heading there this coming Sunday. It's only 2 days away, surely it can wait till then. It would be nice to have some company on the trip."

"That would be nice. I'll ask Akane and Kasumi if they want to come."

"Wonderful, I bet we'll have a great time."

"Well I really must go. Thank you again." Standing Nabiki gave a polite bow to keep with appearances. She was playing the dutiful daughter after all.

"Think nothing of it, I love having visitors. I'll call your home after I talk with Ranma about a time to visit." While Nodoka had chosen to not force the engagement, if one of the Tendo girls decided to pursue her son on their own, well the chance of her getting in the way were nonexistent.

Shampoo moved silently into an ambush position for Nabiki. She was in no mood to wait two more days in order to track down her prey. She had seen where Nabiki had put the piece of paper with the information she needed. She would have to get it translated by someone but the less people around when she did finally find Ranma the better.

She would also have to observe Ranma, these women had referred to the girl only as a male. But Nodoka shared an obvious resemblance to the girl, maybe the male orientated japanese had cursed their own daughter so they could have a male. And the only thing that could explain such a thing would if Jusenkyo was involved. The Guide had been present when the two had stumbled into the village. It would explain the panda's incredible intelligence as well as their ability to disappear completely.

She didn't have to wait long as Nabiki walked by her position. Stepping out she looked to see if anyone had noticed her presence. Finding no one she fell in step behind the girl. Moving without a sound she got within striking distance and reached in, snatching the paper from her pocket. Without missing a step she quickly turned and ducked away. Not the way she would have preferred to take the paper, but there was more to being an amazon warrior than outright violence.

**X X X X X X**

"Can't believe I almost missed these steps." Reaching the top of the steps Ranma turned and stared back out at the valley. "Then again." With all the trees turning colors, the sun starting to hang high up in the sky and the way it shined off the lake. "They aren't so bad."

"Ah Ranma, you're back early." The wizened voice of Katsuhito called from his living quarters.

"Heh, I guess so."

"Come inside let's go have something to drink and you can tell me about your trip." More than happy to take the offered hospitality, Ranma was quickly inside. Katsuhito lived in a single room with little in the way of modern convenience. Sitting down at the low table he took an offered cup full of tea.

"So, tell me all about it."

"Well first I left the shrine on the bus, then I headed into Okayama so I could catch a train."

"Uh maybe a little less step by step. How was your mother?"

"She was, I don't know."

"How so?" And so Ranma went about giving an abridged version of his trip. He didn't want to be here all day explaining details but Katsuhito probably would enjoy an entire day of him talking. It wasn't like the priest had a whole lot to do.

"Sounds like it was a good learning experience for you."

"I don't get it."

"Well you got to explore a new part of the world, you got to know your mother, this Tendo family, and most importantly found something out about yourself."

"Myself?"

"Of course, you had the courage to stand up for yourself and chose your own path. A coward would have followed the will of others. Not to say that you disregard the advice of others, but there are situations that warrant such action."

"I guess so."

"Keep your chin up Ranma, things have a way of working themselves out in the end."

**X X X X X X**

Standing and wiping his brow Tenchi surveyed the field that was now filled with carrot seeds. It was impossible to go into town and buy the amount that Ryo-ohki consumed. So they had decided to convert a field just for the vegetable. 'Maybe we should put her on a diet.'

"Miyah?"

"These are all going to be carrots for you." That was the wrong thing to say as the hyper active cabbit suddenly attempted to dig one up. Picking her up by the scruff of the neck he stopped her mad dash for carrots. "They gotta grow first. Let's head back I think it's almost lunch time."

"Miyow." Ryo-ohki mewled pitifully, images of carrots in her head popping like balloons.

This would be his last week spent solely at the shrine. He had finally been accepted to transfer into another school. Most of his friends had already done so and the nearby schools had been swamped with the transfers. 'I wish Ryoko wouldn't have blown up my school.' Finding one that was close enough to commute was hard enough, getting into it was another.

Paying for an apartment would have been hard and he didn't think Ryoko would have left him alone. It was a good thing the house had been moved to the shrine. With Ryoko's penchant for showing off her abilities and causing property damage he didn't think an apartment would last more than a couple weeks. Not mentioning the public spectacle that would come about. At least at the shrine they didn't have to worry about becoming the top story of the nightly news.

'At least with Ranma around I won't have to worry about the house being destroyed when I'm gone.'

**X X X X X X**

Prowling the shrine grounds Ryoko floated along a few meters above the ground. 'It was so boring!' Tenchi was off being a stick in the mud and working in the dirt. That traitor Ryo-ohki was spending time with him. Pausing in mid air she floated backwards a bit and took a look at the entrance to a cave. As the norm for the shrine a large red torii with spirit wards stood over the entrance. More wards were placed over the entrance hanging from a large rope.

Floating over she found a small plaque that gave the legend of a goblin trapped inside. 'Hmm let's see, 400 years ago, horrible goblin came from the sky, yadda yadda yadda, people sealed it within magical force field. Warning, do not enter, protections are in place. Heh this could be fun. But it wouldn't be any fun by myself. And no way am I getting trapped in a damn cave again.'

**X X X X X X**

"Nabiki you're back!"

#Did you get where the boy is?#

"Daddy, can't breath."

"Oh sorry."

"Ok, so here's the deal. Us girls are going to take a trip there sunday. She wouldn't tell me where but she is fine with me, Akane, and Kasumi coming along when she visits him."

"What do you think Saotome-kun?"

#We follow of course#

"No no no no no, if you want me to help you two out with this you'll stay out of it got it?"

"But Nabiki, what if something happens?"

"We'll be fine, sides, Ranma doesn't seem to listen to his dad but does to his mom. Most you two would do is complicate matters."

"But."

"No buts Daddy, understand?" Seeing the nods from the two males she went to go put the information in her pocket safely away. Sliding open the lowest drawer of her desk she inserted a key to open the metal lock box contained within.

Opening the lid she found small bits of plastic strewn about, the destroyed remains of two digital cameras, an ipod, her laptop, pda, usb flash drives with all her photos, and her old cd player. All of it gone, over 300,000 yen worth of electronics destroyed! Slumping in her chair she stared at remains.

**X X X X X X**

Ryoko grumbled about the injustice of it all. Tenchi wasn't interested in visiting the cave she had found out about. Appearing a short distance from the house she chose to walk for once. But she did notice a certain pigtailed boy.

"Hey Ranma." Ryoko purred as she appeared behind the boy in question. Ranma for his part had grown used to the eccentric pirates penchant for appearing behind people and did not leap away in fright this time. Nope as a testament to his manliness the only thing that happened was a whole body tense and his pigtail sticking straight out from his head and bristling like a cats tail.

"What is it Ryoko?" He wasn't busy with anything in particular in fact Katsuhito had told him to take the day off and enjoy it. It was another nice fall day, not warm, not cold, just that nice area in between. Sitting on the wooden deck outside the living room he was just lounging, and completely bored out of his mind.

"You wanna do something fun?"

"I'm listening."

"Well across the lake there's a cave."

"Yea I saw it a while ago, so?"

"Supposedly there's a goblin in it."

"So another you?"

"Are you kidding? As if someone else could come close to the beauty, grace, power, smarts, and ability. Such a perfect specimen as me could never be equaled!"

"I think we have a phone book around here somewhere, which end do you want me to start from? Front or back?."

"Humans could never compare to me, but if you're scared I guess I can go get a big brave person like Sasami to come along."

"Scared? I aint scared of nothing."

"Well then let's go." Ranma found himself being grabbed onto before he was teleported to the other side of the lake.

Inside the house Ayeka watched the little exchange. It was good that Ranma and Ryoko were spending time together, it meant the cyan haired obstacle to Tenchi was not spending time with Tenchi. It was too bad she didn't know how to read lips or else she could have figured out where they were going.

"Azaka, Kamidake." Her two guardians appeared shortly hovering in mid air.

"You called for us Ayeka-sama."

"Ryoko-san has taken Ranma-san across the lake, I would like you to monitor and make sure she doesn't hurt him." She knew that Ranma could take care of himself in a fair fight, but Ryoko did not fight fair. And it wouldn't hurt to know what went on.

"As you wish Ayeka-sama."

"Oneesama why did Ranma-niichan go across the lake with Ryoko-neechan?"

"Ah Sasami you startled me, well I don't know."

"Well let's go find out!" The little girl was quickly outside.

"Wait Sasami don't!" Ayeka followed shortly trying to stop her sister. Mihoshi watched the goings on with her usual detachment. She pouted when she noticed that she was the only one in the house now. Jumping up to follow she tripped over the table.

"Ite ite ite ite. Hey wait for me!"

**X X X X X X**

Katsuhito couldn't put his finger on it but he had the sudden premonition that someone was going where they shouldn't. Shrugging he went back to sitting peacefully in an almost meditative state. After getting to the age that he had, one had to find ways to pass the time. Not finding much solace in the action he was thankful when the phone started to ring.

"Hello, you've reached the Masaki shrine, how may I help you?"

"Ah yes I was wondering if my son Ranma was available?"

"Nodoka-san it's nice to hear from you, unfortunately Ranma is unavailable, would you like me to take a message or have him call you back?"

"Could you please have him call me back?"

"Of course, anything else?"

"No thank you very much." Hearing a click he hung up his own. Chuckling to himself he returned to his table. Hoping that whatever trouble someone was getting into would provide some more amusement. The old shrine had become so full of life lately, and in the twilight of his life it was nice to have the company.

**X X X X X X **

"This place goes back pretty far." Ryoko was just about to the point of bored. Just a boring cave, sure it went on for a long way but there hadn't been a single thing of interest.

"So? Why did you drag me here? This place is boring."

"We haven't even gotten to see the goblin yet, gah you whine like a girl."

"No I don't!"

"I wonder if there's any cold water in here."

"Hey what's that?" Ranma deflected, hoping to remain male for most of the day. The pair stopped at a large boulder that blocked the path. A rope with more wards was tied around it. Ryoko stepped up and inspected the rock for a moment.

"HA!" The rock exploded in a shower of razor sharp shards as Ryoko sent an energy blast into it.

"You idiot you could have caused a cave in!"

"Quit bein such a baby."

"Unlike you I can't move through stuff."

"Oh yea, I forgot about that."

"Idiot." Stepping forward something on the floor moved underneath his foot. "Huh what was that?" Hearing a whistling noise he looked up to see something approaching his head really fast.

"ACK!" Ducking out of the way of whatever it was, it hit Ryoko right in the forehead. Crossing her eyes to look at the suction cup arrow that was now dangling off of her forehead.

"Oh crap, you alright?" Ranma was asking from her side.

"Yea I'm fine." Pulling it from her head she inspected the small ball tied to it. "What's this thing?" Ranma poked it and it suddenly exploded revealing a tag.

"Go home, idiot?" Ranma snorted and tried to pull in his laughter.

"Shut up! To hell with magical force fields and goblins! Someone is making fun of me! I won't allow it!" Ranma whistled as Ryoko ran forward and seemed to trip every trap that had been put in place.

"Good thing she's strong, cause otherwise she'd be in trouble."

"What was that!?" The answer was followed by a loud clang as Ryoko was hit with something. "Idiot now look what you made me do!"

"Not my fault you're a clumsy tomboy!"

Deep in the cave, encased in it's crystalline tomb a diminutive figure opened it's eyes. Small lights starting to appear around the crystal prison as it attempted to subdue the consciousness that had been restored. It didn't have to wait long as two figures burst into the large chamber.

Ranma sat up with a groan and rubbed his head. "Whatcha do that for?! I was just tellin the truth!"

"Like hell you were! But i'll give you one chance to apologize."

"Well you're violent, you're uncute, and you're a tomboy, why do I gotta apologize for speaking the ACK!" Dodging out of the way of an energy blast Ranma quickly glanced around for some place to run.

He paused and blinked at the large dome shaped opening they were now in. The whole room had an eerie quality to it, the floor was made from smooth flat stone cut into polygonal shapes that circled a large crystal. Lit from a single bright light that shone down into the crystal directing the light into water that sat between the stones tiles. All this bathed the room in a blue green light. Smaller boulders were strewn about the room, all covered with spiritual wards.

"Huh what's wrong? Aren't you gonna run?" Ryoko's next energy blast died out and she floated over to where Ranma was.

"I think we found the goblin." Pointing at the large crystal as small spots of light appeared on it's side.

"Eh? I guess you're right." Stepping up to it they tried to look inside but the dark outer surface didn't allow anything inside to be visible.

"What's that?" In a flash of light he caught some glowing strands of something and a small figure inside.

"Well this is boring, let's break it open." Ryoko started to pull in energy to blast the rock when Ranma grabbed her wrist.

"Idiot, you might hurt whatever is inside."

"Then how do you expect we break it open?"

"I dunno."

"Heh, I know." Teleporting to the top of the rock she rubbed her hands together before grabbing the top. Grunting as she tried to pull it upwards the crystal started to shift but held firm.

"Haha guess you aren't as strong as you thought!"

"Shut up Ranma!" Phasing her fingers into the crystal she pulled with all her might. The crystal shuddered and finally broke free from it's base and rose into the air. Large cables that were buried beneath the floor dug trenches as they ripped through the stone before snapping. The now released crystal was pulled up into the air.

"I'll show you!" She growled and hurled the crystal at a shocked Ranma.

"AAAH! You idiot!" Jumping out of the way the crystal slammed into the floor before the top swung around to slam into the side of the room where it stuck. "What are ya tryin to do?! Kill me!?"

"Did I almost hurt the little boy? Nya nya!" Ryoko's tongue exited her mouth and she laughed.

"Oh yea?" Running over he grabbed one of the smaller stones. "Have one yourself!" Picking it up with a little bit of difficulty at first he hurled it at the flying space pirate. Teleporting to a new location Ryoko continued to gloat over her earth bound opponent who continued to throw anything handy at her.

Unknown to the squabbling duo, the crystal cracked at the top exposing the delicate instrument cone that kept the stasis field intact. A small arc of electricity played along it's surface before it went dead. The stasis field no longer being intact allowed it's prisoner to awake fully. Chunks of the crystal started to break away and fall off as a glowing sphere of light dissolved it from within.

"What's that." Ryoko appeared in front of Ranma just as he was about to throw another rock. His arms held over and behind his head were frozen in shock till gravity came back into existence and he crashed backwards.

"Gah don't do that!" The sphere of light came forward and then grew in size a small amount. "Uh what's that?"

"That's what I said." The sphere started to come forward. "Well stand back little boy I'll take care of this." Casually throwing several energy blasts as the ball she was about to turn back to Ranma and continue the fun when she noticed they did nothing. "Well that's weird."

"Weren't you going to do something?"

"Guess not, well I'll see you later." Waving bye bye she started to fly down the tunnel.

"Hey!" Turning back to the sphere he watched it approach and then decided perhaps a tactical retreat was required. This was confirmed when a bolt of lightning shot out of it and hit near his feet.

**X X X X X X**

"Sasami! Stop!"

"Oneesama what's wrong?"

Breathing a little heavy from the run around the lake Ayeka glared at her little sister. Releasing her hiked up robe she adjusted to make sure she looked as a princess should. She was about to explain to her sibling that allowing Ryoko and Ranma to bond would only be a good thing, and that they needed time alone to do so. But she stopped when she sat her two guardians sitting just outside a cave opening.

"What are you two doing? I ordered you to watch and make sure Ryoko-san didn't hurt Ranma-san." The two guardians jumped and twisted to look at her.

"We are sorry Ayeka-sama but we don't fit inside the cave." A very large crashing noise echoed from the cave. "And both Ranma-san and Ryoko-san are very scary when they fight."

"Surely the royal guards to the crown princess of Jurai are not scared of a normal unenhanced humonoid." Smaller crashing noises now started up along with Ranma's voice calling for Ryoko to hold still.

"I'm not sure if I want to know anymore."

"Come on Oneesama let's go see what they are doing!" Sasami grabbed her sleeve and started to pull Ayeka towards the entrance.

"Yea come on Ayeka it'll be fun!" Mihoshi agreed and grabbed her other sleeve.

"Sasami, Mihoshi-san stop that, my clothing is not a handle. And when did you get here Mihoshi-san?"

"Come on it'll be fun!" Forced to follow her sister, Mihoshi, and a cabbit they were nearly at the entrance when Ryoko came zipping by them at high speed. "ACK!" Falling backwards she winced from landing on the hard stone.

"What are you doing monster woman!?"

"Oh princess, didn't see ya there." Ryoko's smirking visage hovered several meters above her. Standing she once again adjusted her robes.

"What are you three doing?! Don't just stand there!" Ranma now came by only he was followed by a bright light. He stopped after passing to come back and grabbed their wrists and pulled them away while getting behind Mihoshi to push her. It was just in time as the entrance exploded allowing a giant sphere of light to pass through.

"What did you two do?!" Ayeka alternated a glare between Ranma and Ryoko.

"It was that idiot up there! She threw this big stone at me and that thing came out." An accusing finger was pointed at the floating space pirate.

"Well aren't you going to deny it?"

"Why? I did throw it at him." Ryoko idly inspected her nails.

"Um, aren't we forgetting about something?" Mihoshi asked breaking the trio from their discussion. All eyes turned to look at the sphere which had gained about another third in size and was now advancing again.

"What do we do?" The sphere of light came closer then stopped. Hovering in mid air it started to shrink in size and float towards the ground.

When it hit the ground it winked out of existence to reveal a young green eyed girl. "I was just disciplining my rude children for throwing me around that cave. They threw me so hard I thought I was going to die!" The little girl stood with her hands on her hips wearing a dark green over coat with wing like markings on the front. Her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and the hair in front stuck out from her head like crab legs. The large ponytail that was formed hung down to her knees and fanned out nearly as wide as her body.

"Hey who the heck are you." Ryoko growled and floated down to grab the little girl when an barrier shimmered into existence stopped her.

"My name is Hakubi Washu, and I am the greatest scientific genius in the universe!" She proclaimed as small trumpets played from somewhere. Small hand puppet versions of the girl popped up on both shoulders. "Washu-chan is the greatest!" "Hooray for Washu-chan the greatest!" All three then started to cackle madly.

"Washu? Washu! I remember now!"

"You know this person Oneesama?"

"You're the most famous mad scientist in the universe!" Recoiling in terror Ayeka watched the small red head. "She was exiled a little over 2000 years ago for creating weapons of destruction so terrible she was deemed a plight upon the universe!"

"What a terrible thing to say! To think such a cute girl as me could be called such a thing! But now I must discipline my wayward children." A completely flat black keyboard and computer screen appeared in front of her and she started to rapidly type.

"Wait it was all her! She did it!" Ranma pointed at Ryoko.

"No way he's the one that wanted to see the goblin!"

"Are you kidding? That was your idea! And you're the one who threw her around!"

"Huh?" They both paused as a bright beam of light suddenly rose up from their feet.

"Petulant." With a final keystroke Ranma and Ryoko were enveloped in bright green light. When it cleared away where the pair had stood were now a pair of four year olds. Their clothing didn't make the transition and Ranma was now swimming in his red shirt while Ryoko was having a similar time with her blue striped dress. "Your punishment is that you get to be children for the next hour to rethink your conduct."

"Amazing, but isn't that just a bit silly?" Ayeka asked as the pair of children examined each other confused over the change in age and how Washu had been talking to them.

"Silly?" Another key was hit on the keyboard. "Perhaps some time as a kappa will teach you not to call me, Washu the greatest scientific mind in the universe, silly." The light sprung up underneath Ayeka and when it cleared she was small kappa Ayeka. Flippered hands and feet with a green jumper, a bill like mouth, a bald spot on the top of her head, and on her back was a large turtle shell.

"Kappa? Kappa! Kappa!" Ayeka-kappa started to run in a circle till she bumped into the chibi forms of Ranma and Ryoko, where they fell into a heap.

"They're so cute!" Mihoshi and Sasami chorused as the trio squabbled.

"I just rearranged her genes and accelerated the metabolism of her cells. As easy as changing someone's age for a genius like me. Oh oh oh oh oh!"

Ignoring the children, Washu started to rapidly type on her computer as she tried to reestablish communication with her lab. Poor Ayeka-kappa was running for her life in a circle around the child like scientist as the pair of four year olds tried to play with her. The only thing saving her from the unusually quick children were the overly large clothes that hampered their movement.

**X X X X X X**

Tenchi looked at the scene that greeted him with no small amount of confusion. Sitting in the living room were the normal people he had come to associate with his home. Added to that was a small, approximately 12 year old, red head who as soon as he had entered the door had gave him a look he didn't like. It was the kind of look a lion gave it's prey just before devouring it. And damn were those green eyes hiding a lot of intelligence. She was busy typing on some black panels that were floating in mid air and mimicking a laptop.

Two of the strongest most physically gifted people that he knew of were also sitting on separate couches glaring at each other. That wouldn't be all that unusual, except the fact that they were currently four year olds wearing adult sized clothing. One of the other, Ayeka, was currently a small kappa like creature that was being showered with attention by Sasami and Mihoshi, and did not look happy about her situation.

"Um, can anyone tell me what's going on?"

"TENCHI!" Ryoko-chibi jumped up and tried to leap from the couch towards him but a force field bounced her back. "Ite."

"I warned you to stay put." Washu chided and hit a few keys on her flat keyboard. Orange boxes around the couches shimmered into existence before they disappeared. "Let's see, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." With an audible pop all three people were returned to their normal forms. As soon as their clothes were resituated, two were in the red heads face demanding to know what had just happened. Wisely Ayeka chose to stay as far from the red head as possible.

"Sit down and i'll tell you, unless you want more punishment." The two stiffened then in a blur were sitting once again. "But first, introductions are in order. I am Hakubi Washu, the greatest scientific mind in the entire universe!" A repeat performance from the two hand puppets.

"It's uh nice to meet you, I'm Masaki Tenchi."

"Don't ignore us you goblin how did you do that to us!" The slow learning Ryoko glared at the girl.

"I just reversed aged you, it's a simple matter."

"Um Washu-sama, but why did you call them you're children? We have already met Ranma's mother." Ayeka was also interested to know that little tidbit of information.

"Yea what the hell kinda scam you tryin to pull?! I got a mom already, far as I know you can only have one!" He paused. "Right?"

"Let's see, how best to explain this. Ooh I know!" Hitting a key on her keyboard, causing three individuals to tense, the room suddenly darkened away leaving them standing in blackness but still able to see everyone. "A few finishing touches." School desks appeared in a grid pattern as well as a large display screen and a podium next to it. "Now if you would take a seat." Too shocked to disagree they sat down.

Washu was gone for a moment then returned with a pair of small glasses perched at the bridge of her nose and her clothing taking on a more formal tone. Her overcoat was now a robe with the same wing design. A large mortarboard hat with a drape of fabric behind it weighed down by two tassels at the ends sat on her head.

"Quiet, quiet, thank you, now look up here." Washu took a small sip of water from a glass that materialized out of no where and pointed towards the display. It flickered to life and showed Washu's name in large bold characters. "Now to explain, a long time ago I came into possession of the three gems. One of which Ryoko possess now and the other two are sealed away somewhere. I still haven't figured out where though." The screen changed to show a slowly spinning diagram of the three gems.

"Tenchi-niichan has them in the Tenchi-ken." Sasami added.

"Thank you Sasami, but next time raise your hand. Now as I was saying, I came into possession of the gems. I tried and was unable to use them myself or incorporate them into existing technology. So using a combination of my own egg cells as a base I created both Ryoko and her brother Ryoto." The screen shifted showing two tiny babies floating in test tubes. Ryoko with her hair in the same style but very short. "Ryoto" with red tinged black hair as long as Ryoko's but of uniform length.

"What a load of." Ryoko started to yell when a large fat tanuki statue slammed down on her head. "Ite."

"Raise your hand if you have something to say!"

"Seriously what the." Another tanuki statue materialized and slammed down on Ranma's head.

"My children our dunces." Washu groaned and rubbed her temples. "Now as I was saying before being so rudely interrupted, I created both Ryoko and Ryoto, or as you know him as Ranma. You have a question Tenchi-dono?"

"Um, we have already met Ranma's mother, but if you are his mother then why does he look so much like her?"

"A good question Tenchi-dono. The answer is that in a way she is. You see when I first created them it was shortly before I was seized by the authorities. Both were in stasis pods at the time, my own little invention, they have a defense mechanism that they were both capable of utilizing. Just before my capture I set them adrift in space so that they wouldn't be destroyed along with the rest of the insecure portion of my lab." The babies melted away to be replaced by two egg shaped objects.

"The defense mechanism is a survival unit. Only logical conclusion that I can deduce is that Ryoko's pod reached a habital planet shortly after being set adrift, while Ryoto's didn't land until about 16 years ago. Since Ryoko was the one I was working on at the time I entrusted the three gems to her. But each are equally able to use them."

"Bullshi..." A tanuki statue three times the size of the other crushed down on Ryoko's head. It had the added affect of driving her through her desk and into the floor.

"I said raise your hand, now, when a pod reached a habital planet it was programed to scan for the dominant sentient life form. The pod would then make modifications to the occupants DNA so that they would blend in. This must not have happened with Ryoko because of the gems resisting any change to her body. With Ryoto he took on the characteristics of humans, locking away any of his advanced abilities. Although he obviously has many advantages that a normal human does not."

"The other defense mechanism built into both Ryoto and Ryoko was that if they found a suitable life form to raise them they would at a physical and small emotional level bond with that person. This would help them further assimilate into the society they now found themselves in."

"So is that why I look so much like Mom, but look nothing like Oyaji?" Washu was tempted to add another statue to his head but he seemed to be thinking, unlike her daughter. Such behavior would be encouraged.

"Yes, but remember raise your hand. You have a question Sasami?"

"How do you know so much?"

"I am the smartest person in the universe! Well, ahem, that is to say I have a mental link with both of them. It is far more developed with Ryoko due to her unmodified nature, but I still receive information through the link with Ryoto."

"So that means I can fly and do that other, Ite." Ranma rubbed his head after Washu hit him over the head with a folded paper fan.

"What did you forget?"

"Um." Raising his hand Washu nodded at him. "Does that mean I can do the stuff that Ryoko can do?"

"That is a poorly worded but good question. In time, yes, you will be able to do so, especially if I revert your body to it's original form. The process started as soon as the original modifications were made. It's a linear process that would have taken till you were approximately 50 years, 13 days, 9 hours, 32 minutes, and 17 seconds old. But if I were to revert your form it would be near instant. But either way within another year or two you're body would cease aging."

"So i'd look like" The tanuki statue disappeared and a bucket of water slammed down on his head.

"I'll humor you this time, but no you would not look like her, you would look like me, since after all Ryoko gets her looks from me."

"Screw that I don't wanna look like that violent tomboy!" This time the bucket was crushed by one of the larger tanuki statues spilling it's contents on the now female Ranma.

"And this curse that you have is very interesting, I'll need to study it before doing anything of course."

"Um."

"Yes Ayeka-dono?"

"Washu-sama, don't you think this is a bit much for us to take in at once?"

"Ah, I forget how not everyone is a super genius like me." Hitting a button on the podium the living room returned and everyone sitting was suddenly dropped to the floor, which had the added effect of waking up Mihoshi who had slept through the entire thing. "I still need to finish reconnecting to the surviving portion of my lab anyway. Hmm, where would be a good place." Explanation done she walked off to find a suitable doorway to connect her lab to.

"Ranma-neechan are you alright?" Ranma just groaned from where she was laying on the floor. The impact of the statue having knocked her for a loop.

"That, that Washu, I'm gonna." Ryoko didn't finish her threat as she visibly simmered.

"You don't look so good Ranma." Sitting up and rubbing her head she tried to ignore the faint ringing.

"I'm fine."

"Isn't it great Ranma, you have two mothers now!" Mihoshi's ever happy voice added and her eyes widened. 'Two mothers? But if what Washu said was true then I'm not really a Saotome. Which would mean Oyaji isn't my Oyaji.' Looking over at the simmering Ryoko. 'But it also means that she's my sister? Gah what a horrible thought that is!'

"Do you think we should trust her?"

"Good point Tenchi-sama, we really don't know if Washu-sama is lying or not."

"Of course she's lying, like I'd be related to girly boy. Huh where is he?"

"Ranma?" But the boy turned girl had disappeared.

Where Ranma had moved to was a large tree just behind the house. Mid way up the tree she was sitting on a branch with her legs dangling off the side. When Washu had been talking she had taken it all in stride and had felt no real problem with the information presented. Perhaps it was how incredible the whole thing was that had allowed her to just go with the flow. But now it was finally hitting home, after all, what possible reason would Washu have to lie about the whole thing?

At first she had dismissed it all, it was just too fantastic to be believed. But the nagging possibility was now eating at her. Could her life be a complete lie? Everything, all the pain she had endured for the art? She had always given Genma leeway. 'Oh that's just my Oyaji, he's an idiot, but he means well.' She could still see giving him that, if only because he was the one to raise her. But it would certainly explain is willingness to employ certain extreme training measures.

But why would no one ever tell her? She had been around orphans before, she couldn't be mad about being adopted. Helping and protecting the weak was something she had always taken very seriously. In fact she would have felt better about Genma if she had known he had done something like that. Although Genma doing something so generous as to take over the life of a child wasn't something she could believe he did on his own. At least not without a substantial return for the investment.

And Nodoka, the one she was supposedly "bonded" with was willing to go through with a seppuku pledge and allowed him to leave for 10 years! What kind of good parent was that? She was probably just lucky that Nodoka had passed out shortly after arriving, allowing her to change back into her birth form to explain things. She really didn't want to think of what she would have done if faced with the choice that contract held. Being willing to lay down ones own life for the sake of others was one thing, slitting your stomach and having your head chopped off for some sheet of paper was another thing entirely.

"Ranma!" She watched as Tenchi, Ayeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi exited the house calling her name. "Where are you?!"

She watched for a moment then turned away. It felt nice to be wanted, but she wasn't interested in being found.

**X X X X X X**

Author Note:

Nabiki is pretty much a mercenary who cares little for Ranma even in the later stages of canon. A good example of this is her saying that Ranma cross dresses to Nodoka during the first meeting. Nodoka had given no indication that she was anything but serious about the pledge, yet not for the first time she played with him without caring for the consequences.

Shampoo not knowing about jusenkyo is something I can only reconcile canon-wise with her not seeing any evidence to the contrary. When at the Tendo's they don't really explain it and so she assumes that there are just two Ranma's.

Don't believe for an instant that the super dad duo will listen to Nabiki and stay home. Oh poor poor Genma, Washu will want to speak with him.

1 – Specifically a reference to the fic Naruto Genkyouien chapter 7, it's in my favorites, i'm not a fan of the sexual aspect to the story but it's a fairly hilarious premise.

Forgot that Katsuhito had a phone up in the shrine. And Ranma didn't ask, hence why he surprised Nodoka way back a couple chapters.

I'm not going to make Nodoka too grand kid crazy. Though she is going to try and play match maker at least a little bit. Kind of a Kimiki Seto character, ooh now there's an idea, get those two together. Poor Ranma if they get those two together sooner. And poor Seina-kun if I bring him in much later on.

300,000 yen is about 3000 US dollars. Actually it's exactly 310,980 yen. Ranma takes place in 94, according to a calendar in Ryoga's house, but i'm doing it for the current modern world. I could easily see Nabiki having a few electronics.

The ropes hung around various objects around the Masaki shrine are called shimenawa. They have folded pieces of white paper that look like a chain of squares or rectangles on them.

Chibi – short person or small child.

Kappa – water sprite, turtle like creature, a google search will get you more info, obviously. (I don't recommend an image search, oh the horror)

Tanuki statue, again a google search if your friend. It's not a common object in either series but Ranma has used it when doing a replacement, Washu used it do discipline Ryoko in Ova episode 10 when she explains the Masu.

Ryoko's name describes her ability to summon spirits. Ranma's original name, "Ryoutou" can mean "two swords", which instead of describing any of his abilities describes both him and Ryoko being the two swords of Washu. Another meaning is two heads which is a reference to his curse. Kanji/name information taken from "Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Server"

Any use of the gems by Ranma will be with a single one. Call it a limiter on him and Ryoko. Since there is an odd number and one is required to power Funaho keeping Yosho alive, so neither will ever be able to attain their full power.


	9. No Need for Old Friends

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

(telepathy between Washu, Ryoko, Ranma, and cabbit)

the DragonBard – OAV timeline Sasami is supposed to be 708 and physically 8, in the manga, which I am not going to reference as canon, but even that says 9 year old. Could you cite where it is said that she different from those ages?

Sorry it took so long to write this. I really don't have a set plan or even an outline when I write something. I have an end so to speak or at least an event that I want to happen and I try to write it so that it can happen. This one went through about 4 complete rewrites and numerous minor ones since I kept writing myself into dead ends. And I'm still not really happy with it.

I'm really considering going out and getting an account on deviantart or something so I can just post pictures of certain areas. It would do a far better job than my descriptions.

**X X X X X X**

In the main atrium of her subspace lab Washu sitting on a cushion in mid air rapidly typing on her computer. The area was modeled after her favorite area from the Jurai Royal Academy. The plant life was Juraian in nature, featuring large trees that looked similar to the deciduous trees of Earth. The entrance to the lab was on a large rectangular platform, a half circle projection came out from the middle of a longer side and overlooked a garden that was recessed down into the ground.

Washu had long since completed the connection to her subspace laboratory. It was childs play for a genius like her. But she had sensed her daughter and Ayeka standing outside the door so she had decided on a little show. She had called up a small sound machine that was playing welding noises at a very high volume. Pointed at the door was a strobe light that was flickering at random intervals. All the confusion she was getting through the link with Ryoko was worth the 5.34 seconds of her time to set it up.

Dimly in the back of her mind she could feel Ryoto floating between anger and depression. Which is understandable in the position he now found himself. Except that she had designed them both for extreme adaptability which should have allowed him or rather her at the moment to simply accept the situation and move on.

It could very well be a side effect of the genetic modifications that allowed him to live among humans undetected. She wasn't an expert on humans, yet, so she would have to gather more information. Tenchi looked like the stereotypical humanoid. And if interbreeding between the Jurai and Earth was possible without any genetic modifications then they would have to be closely related or even one in the same. She'd have to look into that later.

Ryoko having never gone through the process was a happy accident. Every good experiment used a control and now she could test the two against each other. The flip side was true as well, Ryoto would provide data on being withheld from the gems and act as the control against Ryoko. Even without trying her children were being such good little guinea pigs.

This 'curse' was also interesting, shapeshifters were a rarity and even fewer had no control over it. Perhaps a trip to gather a sample from Jusenkyo would prove useful. His change looked from the outside to be very efficient, something most shapeshifters could not claim. The cabbit transformation between companion and ship mode was incredibly inefficient, requiring huge amounts of energy and stored mass to complete.

Though she didn't plan to produce any more, Ryoko had Ryo-ohki, and Ryoto would have his. 'I wonder what I should call her, how bout Rin-ohki, in honor of Ryoto exposing me to a nice little discovery.' Tapping a few keys, the incubation unit holding Rin-ohki's egg appeared to her left. Made of a glass cylinder atop a wider tan cylinder base it had a small rectangular display stating that she would be ready in a little less than 12 hours. It wasn't ideal since Ryoto was still about 68 human and he would have to be at most 50 in order to communicate freely with her.

Frowning she rapidly typed on her keyboard, quickly enough the display brought up all her known information on the genetic modification process. Finding the needed information she was able to create an enzyme that would speed up the process to the needed amount. A small round hole opened up and the vial of clear fluid dropped into her hand. A moment later she reconsidered forcing it on him, it wasn't that important that he communicate with his computer unit at such a level yet. Oh well she would observe him some more and make a decision later on.

Pocketing the device she started to implement several early warning sensors for the surrounding area. It did not take a genius to know that with two princesses and a prince of Jurai, her children, and a Kuramitsu all in such a localized place would attract attention. Dropping from her mid air cushion she walked over to the exit and as it materialized into view she willed the sound and light effects to shut off before opening it to the outside. Perhaps Ryoko would be interested in coming inside for some tests, willingly that was. If not, well she had a lot of other projects that had suffered from 2000 years of neglect that would have to be inspected.

**X X X X X X**

"Your mother is very eccentric, Ryoko-san."

"Shut up princess."

Princess of Jurai and previously most wanted criminal in the galaxy were watching the small door that lead into a storage closet underneath the steps at the front entrance. A flashing bright light and welding noises had been going non stop for half an hour from inside.

"What do you think she is doing in there?" The pair moved back around to the base of the steps in an instant as the door suddenly opened.

"So what seems to be the commotion out here?" The short red head looked both ways before heading over in their direction. "In a hurry to see your mother, Ryoko-chan?" Washu has taken off her academy robe and now wore a black t-shirt with a red triangle pendant holding the front closed. Large gray bands were at the ends of the upper arms and more form fitting white sleeves came down to her wrists. Short khaki shorts and rust colored leggings completed her ensemble.

"Don't call me Ryoko-chan! Only Tenchi can do that."

"Um." All eyes turned to Sasami who was worriedly petting Ryo-ohki. "Is Ranma-niichan back yet?"

"We couldn't find him Sasami." Ayeka overcame her embarrassment over being caught snooping to give her little sister a reassuring hug. "Don't worry, I'm sure Ranma-san will be back soon."

"Ryoto will be just fine Sasami-chan, in fact he'll probably be back in a little bit."

"Really Washu-neechan?"

"Yes really, now Ryoko-chan I was wondering, if would you come to my lab?" The only response was a growl from the space pirate. "Well just knock if you need me."

"If you're really sure Ranma-niichan will be alright I guess I'll go start dinner." Washu grinned at the thought of food, it had been a long time since her last meal. She had originally planned to go find her wayward child, but her proximity sensor was going off and that took priority.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma sniffled a small amount before wiping her nose against the back of her sleeve. Resting against the trunk of the tree she shifted around and tried to find a comfortable position. The ones who had come out looking for her had gone in, except for Tenchi who she had seen head up to the shrine. With the days getting shorter the sun was already starting it's descent behind the mountains. The temperature was also dropping rapidly, something that didn't agree at all with her smaller body.

Even though it was already getting dark she could tell that it was around dinner time as her stomach started to growl. The last thing she had eaten for the day had been after being turned into a child. It had been the reason her and Ryoko had been separated. Sasami had brought out some snacks instead of a lunch and they had started a small fight over it. Hence why they were in 'time out' for the remainder of their surreal adventure as children.

She would endure, at least until any lingering evidence of earlier was gone. She hated to cry, it was a sign of weakness, and it was always so much easier to start when a girl. Other than the glaring height difference it was what she noticed most. When a guy, shutting off her emotions was easy, like hitting a light switch.

But no not this body, it wanted to feel things right then, right now, and to hell with anything else. Dealing with the curse would be easy if it was just a change in body. While there was no mental change that she could pinpoint, all the delicate control that she had built up after years just came crumbling down if she didn't exercise every ounce of control that she had sometimes.

She wondered if this is what Ryoko had to put up with all the time. She was crazy like that, going from happy to angry in an instant and then a billion other emotions that she had no clue about. Ayeka was similar but less vocal, Mihoshi was perpetually happy but she wasn't about to base anyone else off the blonde, Sasami even as a little kid did a bunch of weird stuff. 'Man even when I'm one, girls are still a mystery.'

Turning towards the lake she noticed someone walking around the other side of the lake. Visitors during the day weren't common, let alone ones who came from the opposite side of the road. Glancing at the steps to see if Tenchi would take care of it she snorted. 'Whatever he can do I can do better, even as a girl, I'm the best after all.' Checking to make sure no one was around she dropped to the ground and quickly made her way to meet him as he walked around towards the house opposite the road.

**X X X X X X**

Tenchi was sitting at the top of the steps overlooking the valley. He was taking a break, hours spent wandering through the shrine area looking for the elusive Ranma had turned up nothing. He wasn't sure if he would be putting forth so much effort if Ranma had been male at the time. But knowing that the girl was out there probably wallowing in her problems, it made him want to do anything to stop it. Shaking himself from thoughts that were totally unneeded in this situation he wondered what he should do now.

"Good afternoon Tenchi." Katsuhito's voice broke into his thoughts as the old priest sat down next to him.

"Jiichan, afternoon, you haven't seen Ranma have you?"

"Can't say I have. But I did get a call from his mother earlier, she's looking to visit and would like a call back."

"Oh, Ranma's mother." Tenchi trailed off unsure of how to get into the subject.

"Something wrong?"

"Yea I guess there is. Ranma and Ryoko broke into the other cave and freed this girl named Washu. Hey don't look at me like that! I was out in the field when they did it!" The old priest glared a moment longer before motioning him to continue. "Well, she looks like a 12 year old but is really over 2000 years old."

"You were always smart enough to stay away from THAT cave. Too bad about that other one though."

"Hey I apologized for that already. Uh well, as I was saying, Washu then went into this big explanation about how both Ranma and Ryoko are really her kids. I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details but that's basically what she was getting at. Once she was done with that she just left to 'setup her lab', whatever that means. Once she left, we were discussing whether or not we could believe it. We weren't really watching Ranma and she disappeared. I've been looking for her since. "

"The house gets more and more interesting." Katsuhito adjusted his glasses and looked stoically out at the lake. "Why I remember a time when this place was quiet and serene."

"Sorry."

"No reason to apologize, it was boring."

"Boring? I don't see it getting boring round here for a long time."

"Maybe, or perhaps the abnormal will become normal. Why the concern over Ranma? He seems capable of taking care of himself."

"He's my friend, I just want to help." While that was true he really should stop, it was likely that Ranma was sitting in a tree somewhere thinking over everything and would show back up at the house like nothing was wrong.

"Jiichan, I got a question."

"What is it Tenchi?"

"What do you think Ranma is? I mean like is Ranma a boy or girl?"

"An interesting question Tenchi. Jusenkyo is like that, creating questions and hiding answers."

"Just like you huh? I just have a hard time seeing Ranma as male sometimes."

"Tenchi when you reach my age you need to find amusement when you can. But in answer to your question I would have to say male, or female, depending the temperature of water of course."

"Jiichan!" Tenchi groaned, why couldn't the old priest just give a straight answer for once.

"Tenchi people can be many things. Ranma just has the added choice of male or female. It's fully up to him to decide and nothing you or I could say would change who he is. It's good that he has an environment where he is not ridiculed for his choice in form."

"Choice? Ranma always complains when she's a girl though? And he always gets splashed at weird times, how does he have any choice?"

"You are right about that, but tell me do we you have hot and cold running water?"

"Well yea."

"So what stops Ranma from changing back at first opportunity?"

"Oh...I hadn't thought about it like that."

"So you see it is Ranma's choice on whether or not to stay as one or the other."

"But why would he do that? Ranma says he hates his female form?"

"I believe Ranma has deeply ingrained beliefs from years with Genma about how men and women should behave. So Ranma uses it to escape those beliefs and act as he wishes. As for you seeing Ranma as a girl. Jusenkyo is a perversion of nature, so while both of Ranma's forms are completely normal, changing between the two is not. You are probably struggling because you can see Ranma as a girl, met her first, but in reality he was born male."

"That makes sense, I guess. Hey wait a second! How did you know his dads name?"

"Well I've met him before that's why."

"You met Ranma before? Why didn't you say anything?!"

"No reason really, it seemed as if Ranma had forgotten so I chose not to bring it up. He was after all only 6 at the time."

"I don't remember ever meeting him."

"They didn't stay long and you were with your parents in the city at the time."

"So what was Ranma like then?"

"Hrmm, My memory isn't what is used to be, but my first impression was that he was a very timid boy. Of course that changed when he was away from his father, when that happened he became a smart if overly energetic little boy. The lack of confidence I feel came from his father, who seemed to berate him for any action that he didn't deem manly. He asked for me to train Ranma saying they were on a martial arts training trip and he had heard of our families style. I didn't immediately accept until I saw the training he put Ranma through."

"You see I had allowed him to setup camp near the lake because I was curious to see Ranma's skill. I wasn't against taking up a pupil outside the family but they would have to be something special for me to do so. The first day he trained Ranma to exhaustion and each day afterwards, using training methods designed for adults and risking great injury to Ranma. I finally decided that I would take Ranma from him and try to find his mother. Under the guise of training I was able to get Genma agree to leave the valley for the duration."

"So Ranma was abused as a child?"

"More through Genma's lack of common sense rather than a desire for him to be cruel. Which is the worst kind, he wasn't fit to raise a child alone, let alone to do so on the road. He didn't abide by the deal and I found him one night trying to force Ranma to show him what I had taught him. We had a confrontation where I defeated him and he left. Several days later he had recovered enough to return and he took Ranma back."

"Why did you let him take him if he was abusing him?"

"Who said I let him?" Katsuhito said sharply and adjusted his glasses. "Genma used a technique I had never seen before and was able to take him. I did not ever find his mother, though I had long suspected that Nodoka was. But that was long after the fact and I had no clue to Ranma's whereabouts." (3)

"Something you didn't know?"

"There's always something you don't know Tenchi. You and I are gifted with physical abilities above that of normal humans due to our heritage. Don't start to rely upon your natural gift and forsake your training."

"I won't."

"Good because I must admit that Ranma held a potential that surpasses your own. But he was even more reluctant to use that knowledge than you. I still see that today, he choses to fight at the level of his opponent and not cause injury. Honestly I thought he would be even better than he is."

"Better than now?!"

"Of course, he naturally understands the mechanics of any technique. He could easily learn our entire style in a few weeks time if I was dedicated in teaching him. It was the reason I was hesitant to let him view or participate in your training. I knew that he would learn it just by watching and I had no clue what kind of person he had become under Genma."

"Well that explains why you were so angry at Ranma. Uh do you want me to keep this from Ranma?"

"Not if you want to tell him."

"I'm not sure, I guess there's no reason to tell him. Ranma has enough going on right now, he doesn't need more."

"You're a good grandson Tenchi."

"Huh?"

"Worrying about your friends as much as you do. I'm sure you two would have been great friends if you had met then."

"Oh, heh heh thanks."

"But I wonder who that is."

"Who?"

"It looks like a boy is on the opposite side of the lake, and it appears Ranma is going to speak with him now." Tenchi wasn't listening as he took off down the steps. "Wonder if he'll remember to tell Ranma about the phone call, probably not, guess I'll just call her back myself and extend and open invitation. After all the more pretty young women around the better." Adjusting his glasses he stood to return to his living quarters. "This getting old thing is no fun at all."

**X X X X X X**

Ryoga was not having a good day, good month, good year, good life, pick your poison and he wasn't having anything good from it. It also didn't help that he had no clue where he was. He had exited the forest and nearly walked into a lake, which would have made his day that much more perfect by activating the curse. Instead of looking around and getting his bearings he instead chose to turn left and head off.

Two trips around the lake later and he was really starting to wonder how big this lake was. It hadn't looked that big when he first saw it but now he surely must be in Tokyo with as long as it took him to get around it. It was almost to the point where he would setup camp and prepare himself some dinner.

Another trip around the lake and that was exactly what he decided to do. Depositing his pack on the ground he started to unpack his tent. He groaned when he found that the cord used to tie down the tarp was in a large knot. He never slept without the waterproof material over his head. Every time he had, the curse had activated without fail. Growling in frustration at his bad luck he sat down to start untangling it.

"What are you doing?" A lilting feminine voice asked from behind him. Startled he jumped around and tripped over his pack causing him to tumble to the ground. "You alright?"

Ryoga looked up at the girl who was grinning down at him. He gulped when his eyes roamed over her form and noted that she was an incredibly cute girl, with bright red hair and large blue eyes. She was smiling down at him looking amused at his reaction. Chuckling nervously he untangled himself from the cord he was now tangled with..

"Uh heh heh heh I'm just fine miss. Thank you so much for asking." Suddenly he found that pushing his index fingers together was the most interesting thing in the world. And why was his face so hot all of a sudden?

"Uh huh, so what brings you to the Masaki shrine?"

"Is that where I am? Is that anywhere near Tokyo?"

"Tokyo? You're a long way off from there. You're closer to Okayama right now."

"Really? I must have read my map wrong." Digging in his pocket he found the folded piece of paper showing where he should be. "Let's see, if that is there, and I'm here, that means I should be..." He trailed off noticing the short red head was now peering at the paper from his side. And she was very close to him.

"That's a real bad map you got there."

"Wha wha what? But my maps are perfect." He edged away from the girl and held his map protectively.

"But all you have on there is a Y shaped road pointing to France and China, a red car, a picture of some 'bad mens', and a cafe." (1)

"Isn't that what a map should look like?"

"No..."

"Oh."

"Well if you need directions I guess I can help ya out with that."

"Really?! Um I mean, really? Thank you very much."

"Um no problem, not that I care or nothin but I don't know how the old man would feel about someone camping on the grounds. Ya know since it is a shrine and being a holy place and all."

"Ah, heh heh, I guess you're right. I'm sorry, I'll go." He didn't want to grumble but he did give off a sigh before turning away from the girl to pack his equipment.

"Nah you don't have ta leave, if ya want you can sleep at the house then leave tomorrow."

"What house?"

"Uh that one right there." The girl jerked a thumb behind her and he blinked a few times at the large three story home that was on the side of the lake.

"Now when did that get put up?" He scratched the side of his head. That house hadn't been there when he had first walked into the area. Must be really fast carpenters to make a house that fast.

"Two weeks ago actually." The girl answered and gave off a few lighthearted laughs. His face was hot again for some reason as he watched the pretty red head laugh. Though he hoped she wasn't laughing at him. "Come on grab your stuff I think Sasami will be making dinner right about now."

"I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Sheesh just get your stuff, Sasami makes a lot so it won't matter if someone else comes." He quickly did as the girl asked and returned his camping equipment to his pack. Shouldering it he turned to head off in the direction of the house.

"Hey why are you going that way?" Stopping he turned to find the girl staring at him, behind her he noticed the house.

"Um does your house move?"

"No..."

"Sorry." Keeping his eyes firmly on the ground he tried another direction.

"Sheesh." Ryoga nearly went catatonic when the girl grabbed his wrist and started to lead him to the house, she was holding his hand! No one had actually lead him anywhere other than his nemesis back when they went to school together. Actually this whole thing sort of reminded him of the first time Ranma had done it.

"Um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um miss?" It would only be proper to know this wonderful girls name.

"Hmm?"

"Um, can I ask what your name is?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm Saotome Ranma."

"Saotome Ranma?! Uh sorry, but how do you spell that?"

"Heh heh, well 'Ran' as in disorder and 'Ma' as in evil spirit. Stupid Oyaji told me it was so people would fear my name. Why ya ask?"

"It's uh nothing." He gave off a nervous chuckles and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. No way could this girl be Ranma, just more of his bad luck. Of course the first girl to be nice to him would turn out to have the exact same name as his most hated enemy. They even looked similar enough to where they could be twins. But what parents would name both their kids the same name? "It's nice to meet you Ranma-san, my name is Hibiki Ryoga."

"Ryoga? Hmm, where have I've heard that name before." The girl seemed deep in thought as he was dragged along. He just chuckled inanely, trying not to turn into a tomato when he thought about how a cute girl was actually holding his hand and being nice to him. Who was he supposed to be again? Cause this kind of thing never happened to Hibiki Ryoga.

**X X X X X X**

Back in Nerima the two patriarchs of the Saotome and Tendo families were battling each other at shogi. Tricks were encouraged and in between drawing attention away from the board to move pieces they were discussing the problem of Ranma.

"Saotome-kun, do you have any idea on how to get Ranma back?"

"I do Tendo-kun. Is that a crane?"

"Where? Nope that's a pigeon."

"Well there is one thing that will get my boy to fall in line."

"Is that the Hindu epic hero Rama?" (2)

"Where where?! Nope just a squirrel. Well you see Ranma has only one weakness, it's the only thing that you could call a failure for him. When we first set out he had some trouble adjusting to life on the road. In order to toughen him up I used a training technique I had found in an old booklet."

"Training technique you say? Which one?"

"The dreaded, unbeatable, unstoppable Neko-ken!"

"Never heard of it."

"It's a surprisingly easy technique to teach, all you need is a pit, as many cats as you can, and some fish sausages. Then all you do is starve the cats, tie the trainee up in the fish sausage, then throw him in the pit of cats."

"How, how rigorous." Soun wanted to go further and say that it was something only the dreaded master would do, but he dare no speak his name.

"Indeed. But I was tricked you see, hidden on the last page of the booklet it explained how it wasn't a real technique."

"So he didn't learn it?"

"Actually he did, but not at first. After fish sausages I used dried sardines, then salted sardines, and even fish cakes till finally he did."

"So what kind of technique is it?"

"Well when Ranma's fear of cats becomes too much, how should I put this, he yowls."

"Yowls?"

"Yes yowls, he becomes in mind like a cat. It's a testament to Ranma's prowess in the art, even a fake training technique allowed him to come up with an unbeatable technique."

"But how would that make him unbeatable?"

"I don't know how the boy does it, but when he's in that state he can create these red ki claws, all his abilities increase, and he becomes simply incredible. He's an unstoppable force and the only thing you can do is get out of his way. But it does make him a little difficult to control."

Scratching at his left side, Genma remembered the large slashes that had put him in the hospital the last time Ranma had went into the neko-ken. Young Ranma-neko had been like a scared kitten, older Ranma-neko had not been happy to see him at all. It was still the mentality of a kitten and easily distracted but instead of running away, he attacked.

"Luckily it takes a lot of exposure to cats before Ranma gets put into that state. But before he'll agree to anything to get a cat away from him."

"So you want to intimidate him with a cat?"

"Yup, Ranma may not be agreeable now, but if he gives his word to something he'll do anything to keep it." Genma didn't add that they had to do only enough to intimidate Ranma. Actually causing the neko-ken would only end badly. Especially with the boy becoming rebellious.

"So he wouldn't fight the engagement if he agreed to it, even if forced?"

"He'd willingly go along with it. We could have the wedding as soon as we got back even!"

"You're brilliant Saotome-kun!"

"Aren't I Tendo-kun?"

**X X X X X X**

Kasumi hummed happily to herself as she put the finishing touches on tonights meal. Ever since Genma had started to live in her home she had been asked to make meals almost double the size of previous. Not tonight though, tonight she was going to start him on a diet. It was her new project, along with getting Akane to be less violent and Nabiki to be less greedy. Though it was too bad that she was having little success on either front. Hearing the phone ring she wiped off her hands on her apron and answered.

"Hello Tendo Residence, how may I help you?"

"Hello this is Nodoka I was calling for Nabiki. Is she available?"

"I'm afraid she's been up in her room all day."

"Oh that's too bad, I hope nothing is wrong. We had a talk earlier and she seemed happy when she left."

"I didn't notice anything like that, but is there anything I could help you with?"

"Actually yes, Nabiki asked where my son was staying and I invited her, you, and Akane to go visit with me."

"Oh my a trip that would be wonderful! I'm surprised Nabiki didn't mention it to me earlier. I'll tell Akane after dinner I'm sure she would love to go as well. But where is Ranma staying if I may ask?"

"Of course you can, he's staying at a shrine outside of Okayama. It's a beautiful area, you'll love it. But if it's not too much trouble would going tomorrow evening be alright? They have a large home and we're invited to spend the night."

"It should be alright, I suppose I can get my chores done early. Oh but father and Saotome-san will be left all alone."

"I'm sure the men folk can survive a night by themselves."

"That is true... I'll tell my sisters and give you a call back after dinner."

"Wonderful, I look forward to hearing from you."

"Thank you, have a nice evening."

"You too dear."

Putting down the receiver she smiled happily. The previous trip to Okayama had been fun but they hadn't had any time to enjoy the sights. She would also get to see Ryo-ohki, Sasami, and the other nice people from there. Yes she would definitely be going on this trip. Father and Saotome-san could be trusted by themselves for one night.

Hearing her sisters heavy footsteps as she came into the house from the dojo she entered the hall. "Akane?"

"Yes Kasumi?"

"Could you go get Nabiki for dinner?"

"Sure." Akane was in no real mood to deal with her money hungry sister after the day she just had. Everyone had wanted information on Ranma at school. What was she supposed to say? Ranma flew away in his space ship last night. Even when he left Ranma was causing her problems. But she might just have to thank him if she did see him again. After all he had taken the engagement in his hands and told the parents to shove it.

Quickly up the steps she knocked several times on her sisters door. She was tempted to just say that Nabiki had declined dinner. After all she had skipped school like a delinquent and spent the entire day in her room. Cracking the door open she peaked inside.

"Nabiki? Didn't you hear me?" Her sister was just sitting at her desk staring into a drawer. Walking up she poked her sister. "Hey, Kasumi said dinner is ready." Getting no response she gave her a bit harder of a poke.

She was expecting an angry retort for the poke but what she got was her sister letting off an ear splitting cry of anguish.

**X X X X X X**

"You have a nice house Ranma-san."

"Just Ranma, and it's not my place, I'm just staying here." The guy was grating on Ranma's nerves with how overly nice he was. It wasn't that far of a walk back to the house but she could tell he was one of those terminally shy types would follow her around like a puppy. 'Ah man this means I gotta be a girl longer, what am I thinkin bringin home strays?'

"I'm back!" She called out and slid open the patio door. Kicking off her shoes, Ryoga did the same as well as propping his pack up against the wall. The wood creaked as the heavy traveling gear was put down. 'This guy must be pretty strong, maybe he's a martial artist and I can get a good spar in.'

Any further thoughts were cut off when she was bowled over by Sasami. "Ranma-neechan where have you been! We were so worried! Why did you go away? But you're back now right?! You won't go away will you?" Ranma looked down in horror at the girl who was on top of her. Ryo-ohki was perched on her head and they were both giving the puppy dog attack from hell as those large pink and gold eyes stared up at her, lower lips quivering, and just a hint of a tear about to roll down their cheeks. Blubbering incoherently she tried to pacify that girl and cabbit.

"Ok." The girl chirped and was off of Ranma as quickly as she had appeared. Satisfied with her, Sasami now examined a nervous Ryoga. "Who's this?"

"I'm Hibiki Ryoga, what's your name little girl?"

"I'm Masaki Sasami Jurai, it's nice to meet you Ryoga-niichan!" A beeping from the kitchen called and Sasami excused herself. Ranma had just stood up and was about to explain the situation when she was bowled over once again except this time by the far larger Mihoshi. A bit dazed Ranma groaned under the weight of the blonde as she was nuzzled happily.

"Ranma I missed you! Here look look!" A manga was shoved in her face. "I found one of your ancestors! See theres this guy who's part doggy and he had this big sword." Mihoshi grabbed her hair at the top of her head and pulled some of it up mimicking ears. "Oh perfect he's gotta be an ancestor! Doesn't your mom carry around a sword? I bet that's the one! You should get it so you can do all these cool things with it!"

"MIHOSHI!"

"Uh wha?"

"That's a manga, it's not real." Struggling she desperately tried to crawl out from under the girl who seemed to have landed in a perfect position to cut off any chance of getting enough leverage to escape.

"Really? I thought they were true stories."

"Uh Mihoshi?"

"Huh?"

"Get off!"

"Oh, right." Looking around for any more excitable women that might slam into her Ranma found Ayeka sitting calmly on a couch, hand raised to hide her smile. Above in the rafters was Ryoko who wasn't be as discrete. Tenchi chose this moment to come in through the door leading to the main entrance. The other pigtailed boy's eyes looked around wildly before finding her and the look of worry softened.

"Ranma, are you alright?"

"Yea I'm fine Tenchi, It's no big deal." Chuckling she scratched the back of her head, letting her emotions get the better of her was embarrassing.

"That's good, that your fine and all. We were all pretty worried." Ranma found it weird how Tenchi was stammering. Why was Tenchi so worried about her? "Um who's he?"

"Oh this is Ryoga, I offered him a place to stay so he didn't have to camp outside. Is that alright?"

"Yea that's fine, I'll go grab him one of the spare futons. It's nice to meet you Ryoga, I'm Masaki Tenchi and this is my home."

"Thank you for your generosity Tenchi-san." Ranma rolled her eyes at Ryoga's overly polite bow. What she did find very interesting was the food that Sasami was now bringing out. Both her and Ryoko seemed to materialize at the table. In Ryoko's case that was what she had done, for Ranma she had just moved really fast.

"Would you like to join us for dinner Ryoga-sama?" Ayeka ignored the antics of the two siblings and spoke to Ryoga who was still shuffling his feet at the doorway. "I'm sorry where are my manners I am Masaki Ayeka Jurai, Sasami's sister."

"I really don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense, please have a seat." Ayeka ushered the lost boy to the table and he sat down on the empty side off to the left of Ranma who was glaring at Ryoko who returned it with equal force. "What's bothering you two?" Ranma and Ryoko broke their staring contest to look away quickly.

"Nothing!" They chorused.

**X X X X X X**

Tenchi came back with a rolled up futon that he put against a couch. Noticing that there were two spots he could choose to sit at. Ryoga occupied a shorter side with Mihoshi who for once was being quiet, Ranma and Ryoko were on a longer side leaving an open spot. Ayeka was sitting on the other shorter side by herself and positioned so that if he sat down next to Ryoko he would also be next to her. That left the opposite side open and Sasami as well as Washu still needed to be seated. Which closed off two thirds of the other long side.

"Tenchi, I saved you a seat." Ryoko purred and patted the area next to her.

"Tenchi-sama I also have a seat saved for you." Ayeka as well seemed expectant of him choosing her. Chuckling nervously he was contemplating if taking the spot next to Ryoko would be best since he would be next to both, hopefully avoiding a fight while they had a guest in the house.

"Tenchi-dono so nice of you to wait for little ol me." The choice was made for him as Washu grabbed his arm and dragged him to the free side and sat down so he was in the middle. Ryoko visibly bristled and Ayeka while more subdued did her level best to kill Washu with her glare. They would have moved to take his other flank if Sasami hadn't sat down. Though this did put him in the awkward position of being between two underage girls. One of which was acting in a suggestive way as they ate.

"You two, stop eating like animals." Washu's command cut into the small talk causing Ranma and Ryoko to pause in their mad grab for more food. "I didn't raise you to be barbarians."

"You didn't raise _us_ at all, _mom._" Ryoko sneered and snatched some more food. Ranma nodded her affirmative and took more herself.

"Mom?"

"Hmm? And who might you be?" Washu curious gaze eyed the clueless Ryoga.

"I'm a Hibiki Ryoga miss."

"Tell me Ryoga-dono, would you be adverse to becoming my guinea pig?"

"Wha What?!"

"Nothing nothing nothing!" If it wasn't the beginning of the meal Tenchi would have dragged Ryoga away. The last thing they needed was advertising about all the oddity that went on around his house.

"Spoilsport, but in answer to your question I am Ryoko and Ranma's mother."

"Mother?! But you're, you, you're so young!"

"Aren't I though?" Washu batted her eyelashes and put on a cute act.

"So where are you traveling to Ryoga?" Tenchi would really have to have a talk with the girls about not broadcasting the weirdness to other peoples.

"Me? Uh no place in particular, I just travel all the time."

"Why would you do that?"

"Uh well I just like it, yea that's it. I love to travel so that's all I do."

"Do you get to see a lot of cool places, Ryoga-niichan?"

"I think so, it starts to blur together after awhile. Um if you don't mind me asking, what kind of pet is that?"

"This is Ryo-ohki-chan, she's a cabbit." Said cabbit approached Ryoga who held out his hand for Ryo-ohki to sniff.

"Miyah!" The now happy cabbit jumped up into his lap to receive her over due petting.

"I've never heard of a cabbit before."

"Probably because I made her." Washu cut in taking a bite of food and Tenchi spit out his.

"Washu!"

"Huh? What is it Tenchi-dono?"

"I need to see you, Ryoko, and Ranma in the hall for a second."

"Oh Tenchi! Let's just go by ourselves and leave Washu and Ranma here." Tenchi ignored Ryoko's pleas for attention and left the room with the trio. Suitably happy that Ryoga couldn't hear he addressed them. "Listen, you can't just go advertising things like that Washu, if you want to live here you have to keep a low profile."

"I understand Tenchi-dono, sorry I forgot. This is a developing world after all and I wouldn't want to anger the authorities so soon after my early release. But..."

"But what?"

"I'm just so proud of my children!" Ranma and Ryoko found themselves wrapped up by the shorter girl's arms in a hug.

"Hey lemme go!" "Got off me you midget!"

"That's great, uh Washu. But could you please tone it down?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright, Ryoko, no doing any of the things you do while people are around right?"

"You're such a stick in the mud Tenchi."

"Ryoko-chan, if Tenchi-dono wants secrecy then I could come up with a limiter for you."

"Yea right pipsqueak like you can do anything like that."

"I could turn you into a 3 year old as well."

"No no no no no no, don't worry, I'll be good! No need to do that!"

"Good girl."

"Ranma, are you planning on changing back?"

"I was, why ya saying I can't be a guy cause people will think I'm weird?" The sometimes girl growled and stepped towards him.

"No no no." Tenchi backed away from the angry red head and waved his hands in warding. "I just wanted to know. So we could maybe come up with a cover story or something."

"Yea well if I wanna change back I'm gonna. Got it?" Ranma punctuated the last part by poking him in the chest, hard. Gulping he nodded rapidly. For someone who was a guy, Ranma could sure do feminine fury.

"Ranma-chan."

"What?" The girl snapped and turned to face Washu.

"Tenchi-dono is right. While your 'curse' is Earth based as far as we know, this planet falls under the developing planet policy. We shouldn't even be here as it's highly illegal if we should alter the course of development."

"So you're sayin I gotta try and hide my curse? Feh good luck with that, water finds me at the worst time. I aint gonna go around and tell everyone but I'm not gonna hide because of it."

"I'm with Ranma, why do we gotta do anything? If Earthlings can't handle it, too bad. It's not like some insignificant little planet matters." Both siblings received a smack on the backs of their heads from Washu.

"Shut it you two! You will keep a low profile or else you'll be spending the rest of your life as kappas! Do you understand me?!" Both were now cowering behind Tenchi as the small red head glared at them. "Good, now get back in that room and eat like civilized sentients." Both nodded and quickly disappeared.

"Thank you Washu."

"My pleasure Tenchi-dono. But could you maybe do something for me?"

"Sure what is it?"

"Call me Washu-chan!"

**X X X X X X**

Ayeka wasn't sure what had been said outside but the newly found out Hakubi twins had been far more civilized. Raising a hand to covered the smile that she involuntarily developed at the terrified looks they would give Washu when they thought she wasn't looking. Seeing Ryoko sweat under just the gaze of a small girl was simply wonderful. Maybe she could manipulate it so that Washu took Ryoko away forever. Washu was a citizen of Jurai after all and she was part of it's ruling family. Her mood was dampened by remembering that she was also an exiled criminal who wasn't even supposed to be free. 'Maybe I could offer a pardon in exchange for her cooperation.'

Dinner ended peacefully and everyone went off to do their respective after dinner activities. Sasami and Mihoshi were cleaning up in the kitchen, with the occasional loud noise caused by Mihoshi. Ryoko was loitering up in the rafters again, obviously viewing it as a safe spot from Washu with it's height. Ranma had gone off to take a bath. Ayeka fully agreed that the boy turned girl needed it.

Though the small hint of plant life that hung around her caused Ayeka to be reminded of Jurai. She smiled sadly at the memory of her home world. 700 years in stasis chasing after Yosho and now she was stranded here on the same planet as him. Time was of the essence, if Ryo-oh took root she would be stuck here as well. Along with the horrible prospect of the shortened life span that would come with it. Funaho was the first time she could recall a tree of Jurai surviving this long away from it's native soil.

'But if Ranma was able to do the same as Ryoko soon, perhaps I could ask him to go get Ryo-oh's seed. No way would I ever ask that, that, that filthy Ryoko to go inside Ryo-oh. Once was enough, she should feel honored and thank her ancestors for the opportunity.' Coming back to the real world she watched Ryoga as he nervously sat on the other couch. Perhaps he could give her some entertainment.

"Ryoga-sama?"

"Huh oh yes Ayeka-san?" Ayeka smiled, unlike the other denizens of the house this boy was properly polite. She couldn't expect him to know of her royal status so the small concession could be made.

"Tell me, do you have any interesting stories from your travels?"

**X X X X X X**

Drying his hair as best he could with a towel Ranma watched himself in the mirror that hung next to the furo. While sitting in the hot water he had figured out why Ryoga felt so familiar. It was his old friend from middle school. Which presented a problem for him. He really wanted to walk out as is and try and catch up. But then he would have to explain the curse. Ryoga wasn't really that smart from what he could remember but even he would catch on something was wrong when there were two Saotome Ranma's with the same odd spelling of their name living in the same house.

'Stupid Tenchi, what is he thinking? I'm surprised I wasn't splashed with tea while eating dinner. All the curse does is try and make my life miserable.'

Resigning himself to a night of being female he partially filled a bucket with cold water and poured it into his lap. The few seconds is compression and expansion were quickly over and she dried off the water. Slipping on some boxers and her red pajamas she exited the dressing area to go grab some socks. The temperature had dropped off since the sun had set and the hardwood floors were doing their best to develop frost.

Entering the living room she spotted Ryoko at her usual place among the rafters wrapped up in a big fluffy blanket. "Hey! I thought you said you were gonna fix the heater!" Ryoko leaned over and studied her for a moment then broke into a grin.

"Is poor Ranma-_chan_ cold?"

"Says the one wrapped up in a blanket." Ryoko snorted and turned to lay looking away from her. Mimicking the snort she went to go find Washu.

"Hey Ayeka do you know where Washu is?"

"I believe she is in the utility closet under the stairs."

"Weird."

When she came on the door it looked different from before. A large white circle was now in the middle near the top with two smaller green ones on either side. Knocking on it she was startled when Washu's face appeared in the large circle.

"Oh come in Ranma-chan." Washu's face dissolved and Ranma hesitantly opened the door to find nothing but black. 'Weird.' Stepping into the blackness she suddenly found herself inside a huge room.

"What the hell?!" Washu was sitting on a cushion in mid air, her long ponytail hanging down so that a portion was laying on the ground. The girl swiveled around and sat cross legged on her cushion to smile at Ranma.

"Welcome to my lab Ranma-chan. So what can your mother do for you?"

"What, what, what is this place?"

"It's my lab."

"But it's, it's so big!"

"Oh you must be wondering how I fit such a large space underneath some steps?" Ranma nodded and continued to stare. "Well technically speaking we aren't in the house anymore. This is my subspace laboratory. Subspace exists apart from normal space and the door outside is simply connected to the area of subspace that encompasses my lab. And if you must know it covers the space about of about 5 planets."

"5 planets!"

"Yup! This is just the main entrance that allows passage to all the other parts of my lab. So what is it that I can do for you? I know! You thought about what I said earlier." Trying to block out the information overload Ranma walked closer to Washu.

"Wait what did you talk about earlier?"

"Well whether or not you want me to unlock your real body or if you wanted to wait."

"Oh that, well I hadn't really thought about it."

"So what have you been thinking about?"

"Well nothing really."

"Don't lie to your mother."

"I aint lying."

"Did you forget that I have a mental link with you and your sister? You were depressed about something earlier."

"I really don't know what you're talkin bout."

"Fine fine, if you don't want to talk about it it's your problem. But you have time to think about what I said now, so have a seat, I have some experiments that I'm trying to recover." Washu smiled then turned around to start typing on her mid air laptop.

Plopping herself down on one of the cushions that were strewn about a red carpet Ranma gazed around at the large space. She might just have to spend more time here if it got much colder in the house since the temperature felt perfect. She frowned and noticed that her eyes kept being drawn to a glass cylinder stationed next to Washu. Nothing else in the room really seemed as important. Standing, she walked over to examine it. Inside was a large egg similar to the one she had seen Ryo-ohki come out of.

"I see Rin-ohki is drawing your eye." Startled she jumped around to the other side of the cylinder from Washu. Calming down she tried to act nonchalant of it. "I'm not surprised you find her interesting."

"Rin-ohki? Ohki, you mean like Ryo-ohki?"

"Very much so, they are sisters you could say."

"So is she going to hatched in the time on it?"

"Give or take several minutes."

"So is she someone's ship like Ryo-ohki then?"

"Yup."

"Whose?"

"Yours of course."

"MINE!?"

"Yup, she's your partner."

"My partner?" Poking the glass she watched as tiny bubbles came up from around the egg and to fizzle at the surface. "That means she's gonna be a spaceship like Ryo-ohki right?" Washu nodded and Ranma's eyes started to sparkle as she laid her hand against the glass. 'My own spaceship!' She was almost ready to start jumping around and chanting 'I got my own spaceship!' when Washu stopped her.

"Don't get too excited, she's going to be a new born cabbit and won't be able to take ship form for at least a couple of months and that's if. And do I mean a big if, she is able to collect the right materials."

"Materials?"

"Yup, she needs to assimilate many main materials to build up the ship form, as well as electronics and metal elements in order form the complex computer units required for flight and other functions."

"Oh." That put a damper on her good mood, where was she gonna get that stuff from? Only job she had was working at the shrine, which was mainly paid in stuff she needed.

"Not to worry, I have many of the materials stored in my lab, but you're going to have to be a good parent to her before I give her them."

"Are you sure you're a good judge of good parenting?" Not receiving any response she looked up from the egg to find Washu with her back turned. "Huh, you alright?"

"What was your Earth mothers name?"

"Mom? Uh her name is Nodoka."

"Is she a good mother?" Ranma didn't immediately answer, something in Washu's voice told him this was important.

"I don't really remember her, Oyaji took me away when I was 6 and I kinda forgot until when she came by a couple weeks ago."

"You forgot? But how you two would have been bonded, you should have been near inseparable until your 10th birthday at least."

"Don't know what ta tell ya, I don't remember anything before the neko-ken training." Immediately she clapped her hands over her mouth. Now Washu did turn back to her and walked up to stand too close for comfort. Washu wasn't much shorter than her current form and could if she stood on her toes look her in the eye.

"What is the 'neko-ken'?" Ranma hadn't seen Washu be serious before but the intensity of those green eyes made her take a step back. "I'm not angry with you, but I need to know."

"I think I hear Tenchi calling my name I'll just go see what he wants." Smiling she tried to walk by Washu who grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

"If you want me to take a look at your 'curse', you better own up right now missy."

"Missy?!"

"If you don't want me to get creative with the things I could do to you, you're going to sit down and tell me every part of the neko-ken and if I want the rest of your life, got it?" Nodding quickly she was released to sit down on a cushion. Washu grabbed a cushion and sat down next to her. "I'm waiting."

**X X X X X X**

Several hours later Ranma trudged out of Washu's lab. After explaining the neko-ken training she had been ordered to explain everything she could remember. She just couldn't help herself around Washu, who was actually a little kid, she just became one herself. It was frustrating, losing all control to someone else. But Washu did seem concerned for her, something that seemed to disarm her defenses. So she would just have to make sure it never happened again, and no one else EVER, ever ever ever, saw her acting like that.

Stepping into the living room she found it empty except for Ryoko who was sleeping soundly up in the rafters. Grumbling over the injustice of having to relive all the more 'fun' points of her life she grabbed a jacket of Tenchi's and threw on her shoes to go up and look at the stars.

The clay tiles of the roof were positively freezing even through her shoes. Walking silently up the tiles she sat down at the crest of the roof. Hugging herself and wrapping the jacket around her form a bit tighter she stared up at the stars. But they weren't there, covered by thick clouds. Sighing she continued to shiver as she stopped looking at the clouds to view the shrine. The glow from a single light was visible but it turned off as soon as she saw it.

'What am I gonna do? Do I even trust Washu? Maybe she just has some mind control powers that make me listen to whatever she says? Why would I even listen to someone that comes in, out of no where, and tries to change everything in my life? But she does seem to know a lot, and does she have a reason to lie about everything? It does make a strange amount of sense. And I get my own ship out of the deal! I thought I would have to tag along when Ayeka or Sasami left, but no I get my own real live space ship! I'll be able to explore space, learn all the martial arts I can, I won't just be the best in the world, I'll be the best in the Universe!'

It was a full five minutes before she stopped laughing madly. 'Oh great I'm even more awake than I was before. Stupid Washu getting me all worked up. Can't look at the stars, stupid clouds. Can't even be male, stupid Oyaji, Tenchi and Washu.' Finding no comfort being exposed to the elements, she moved to head back inside. At least in her room she wouldn't be shivering. 'Stupid girl body being so cold.'

"Achoo!"

**X X X X X X**

Ryoga was already up and out of the house the next morning before anyone else was awake. Not by choice, he had just gotten lost. Luckily he had been smart enough to grab his pack before trying to find the toilet and the next thing he knew he had been in town some how. Sighing in frustration at his poor luck he found a good place to do his business.

Once done he took time to examine where he was. Pulling out his map and a pen he started to draw a simple house in the lower right hand corner. Underneath he wrote down 'Ranma-san.' and a smiling face next to it. Carefully folding it up he picked a direction and started walking.

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

Yosho has actually grown old, the gems keep him alive but he is not a young man still like in the OVA. It's weird how everyone stays young in the OVA so I'm going to have them at least be older, especially for Seto considering she's one of the oldest characters. Only the Hakubi's will have the near infinite life span and to a far lesser extent the descendants of Washu's first child, who will live to about 2000 years with the body modification. Bonded Jurians about 3000 years.

Ranma and Ryoko are almost clones of a goddess, if that doesn't equal the longest lives in existence I don't know what does.

(1) – Ryoga's map to the mushroom forest. Chapter 348 page 9 or Volume 33 – chapter 4, except it's lacking the Tendo Dojo and the Mushroom forest which was 30m off the road with the red car that goes to China or France.

(2) – English manga reference Chapter 34 page 5 volume 2 or 3 not that it really matters.

(3) – I hope this finally explains to everyone's liking why Yosho was as angry as he was way back chapter 3.

Rin-ohki – Rin which the kanji for can mean "Long rainy spell", do I have to explain more? I was tempted to use Ran for chaos but it's been done before. And I'm going to end up with enough parallels to "Process of Elimination" that I don't need much more. (Loved the story but hated the ending)

Canon Ranma uses the "wild horse" version of the name, mine uses "chaos demon/evil spirit" version. Just another little mindless connection to Ryoko (thought of as a demon and can summon spirits) since I'm trying to throw in a lot of worthless coincidences in. I'm not sure how long I want it to go on but having Ryoga turn up while searching for Ranma-kun and only ever finding Ranma-chan isn't something that I see happen often or ever.

Sasami introduces herself the same way the Jurains introduce themselves in OVA 3 episode 2 (surname, first name, Jurai). For those who aren't fully up to date with the crazy OVA family tree, the 4 royal houses of Jurai are Tatsuki, Masaki, Amaki, and Kimiki. Only Masaki and Kimiki have any known members at the time and I am not going to have the earthly contingent to the Masaki house in the hopes of simplifying what is one of the most convoluted family trees in history. This also gets rid of Yosho being Tenchi's grandfather on both sides, yikes. Which means Nobuyuki is just a normal human.

As for the GXP crew, Kiriko will still be in her place but as a close relative to Tenchi. Seina will come in soon since he does live in the nearest town but another will come in as well during Ranma's first trip out into space. Cookie for whoever can guess who since I'm not giving any hints.

If you are interested in seeing the family tree check my profile as I have a link to one for this fic as well as an accurate OVA one.


	10. No Need for House Guests

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

(telepathy between Washu, Ryoko, Ranma, and cabbit)

Went through and fixed all the little "your" typos people were complaining about.

**X X X X X X**

Sasami smiled and hummed to herself as she prepared breakfast. Ryoga appeared to have left early in the morning but she was sure he would be back again. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually he would turn up. Washu appeared to have already taken a spot among her expanded family and she was happy that Ryoko could get to have a mother now.

While aboard her sisters ship she had studied Ryoko's history to pass the time and she felt bad for how lonely the girl must have been. Abandoned by her foster family at 15 she was never reported, in 1400 years, of having anyone else in her life. 'It must have been endlessly lonely, no wonder she became a pirate.'

But not now, now she could have a family with Washu and Ranma. Maybe Ranma's mother on Earth would like to be Ryoko's as well, so Washu and Nodoka could be like Misaki and Funaho. Two mothers after all was the best way to go, twice the love could never hurt.

"Ryo-chan?"

"Miyah?"

"Could you go wake up Ranma-neechan?"

"Miyah miyah miyah!" Giggling she watched her furry friend run off. Pausing she wondered if Ryo-ohki was also a sister to Ryoko and Ranma.

"Good morning Sasami-chan."

"Tenchi-niichan you're up!"

"Jiichan wanted me up earlier for some training." Rubbing a particularly sore spot."The old guys a slave driver. Oh and have you seen Ryoga? His pack seems to be gone."

"Nope, he left before I was up."

"Strange he didn't say good bye."

"Don't worry he'll come back."

"So he just went into town?"

"No he left, but I'm sure he'll be back again sometime."

"Oh, haha whatever you say."

"Could you go get Washu-neechan for me? Breakfast will be ready in about 10 minutes."

"Sure thing."

**X X X X X X**

Tenchi entered Washu's subspace lab for the first time. His reaction was similar to Ranma's in that he gaped for several minutes as Washu smiled at his reaction.

"Is this, how did, this is huge, what happened to the closet?!"

"It's still there I just linked the doorway to my subspace lab. But that's unimportant! So Tenchi-dono, what can I do for you? Have you come to be my guinea pig? I promise no invasive surgeries. That may be a one time offer, you should take me up on it now."

Deciding that if he just ignored the weirdness of the lab and went with it he would be much happier, Tenchi finally caught on to what Washu had just said. Having no desire to become this girls play toy he edged towards the door. "Uh, no no, nothing like that. Sasami-chan told me to come get you for breakfast."

"I see I see, Tenchi-dono how about we play a little game."

"A game?"

"Yes a game. Outside my lab you're safe, but when you come in, I can try to make you my guinea pig. Does that sound fair?"

"I don't think."

"Great, I'll give you a free pass this time. Heh heh heh, this is going to be fun!"

"That's great." Forcing a smile he developed a twitch in one eye. "I'll just be going, remember breakfast will be ready in a couple minutes." He heard her thanks as he quickly opened the door and rushed out. Vowing never return to this place again.

"Oh yes this is going to be fun! THE GUINEA PIG HUNT IS ON! OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH!"

**X X X X X X**

Ranma buried herself deeper in the large warm blanket trying to ward off whatever it was that was trying to rouse her. She had just gotten to sleep, no way was she getting up now. Whatever it was, was insistent as it was now hopping up and down on her head. Swiping her hand at whatever it was she rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.

This only seemed to agitate her annoyance who was now making loud noises as it now started to actively hit her. Nothing hard but it was annoying enough that she rolled over and crushed whatever it was under her arm. The small thing squirmed and tried to get free. At this point she was awake enough to note that the small furry thing trying to wake her was making cat like noises. This had the added benefit of instantly waking her up and causing her to jump up and cling to the ceiling. Looking around wildly for a cat she found Ryo-ohki pulling herself out from underneath the blanket.

"Oh it's just you." Dropping down she sat down as the cabbit glared at her. "Uh what's wrong with you?" More glaring and then Ryo-ohki turned and ran towards the door. She stopped and turned back to give off a miyah. "What? Ya know I can't understand ya, a, a, achoo!" Sneezing Ranma wiped her nose. "Just great."

"Miyah?"

"Fine I'm coming." Ryo-ohki passed through the door and Ranma slid it open to find the cabbit waiting. Padding after the cabbit she wish she had put on socks.

"Good morning Ranma." Tenchi greeted as he hastily made his exit from Washu's lab. Ryo-ohki quickly went over and greeted the boy.

"Morning, achoo!"

"You alright?"

"Yea I'm fine, just had something tickle my nose."

"Sasami said breakfast would be ready in a couple minutes."

"That's great I'm starving!" Entering the living room she found Ayeka sitting calmly at the table along with Sasami and Mihoshi. Ryoko floated in mid are, bundled up in a blanket next to the table. As soon as the girl saw Tenchi she was instantly wrapped around him, blanket forgotten.

"Tenchi! Why are you always spending time with Ranma over me?"

"Gah Ryoko get off of me." Tenchi tried in vain to pry the girl from his body.

"But Tenchi." The girl mewled and dropped to the ground to stare up at him.

"I can't believe you're my sister." Ranma smacked herself in the forehead.

"You're one to talk! I got a brother and a sister."

"What did you say?!"

Ryoko ignored her and continued on. "Well I guess that's alright, but you're the little brother slash sister. Now be a good little brother slash sister and go grab my blanket so me and Tenchi can enjoy the morning together." Ryoko went back to pawing at Tenchi as she dragged him towards the table.

"I'm a, a, a, achoo! Guy, you old mummy!"

"Obviously." Washu said from behind her causing Ranma to jump up to the rafters. Glaring down at the madly grinning Washu, Ranma dropped down and sneezed again. "Oh? Lemme see." She blinked down at Washu as the short girl put the back of her hand to Ranma's forehead. "Looks like you got a fever over 101 degrees."

"I'm fine, I don't get sick." Crossing her arms she made for the table. She'd never admit it but she did feel horrible, and with the lack of sleep she really just wanted to curl up in a nice patch of sun and sleep the day away. "Where's Ryoga at anyways?"

"He left earlier."

"Figures, I'm surprised, achoo! That he made it that long."

"What do you mean Ranma?"

"I remembered last night that I went to an all boys school with him about a year ago."

"AN ALL BOYS SCHOOL?!" Was the reaction from everyone.

"Huh?"

"But you, you turn into a girl." Tenchi supplied.

"What? No! This was before the curse. Back then I was a guy 100 of the time!" Sitting down in a huff she gave off another sneeze. Her left eye violently twitching. She'd only had the stupid curse for less than 2 months. What kept making people assume she had been cursed longer anyways?

"Ah, sorry, I forgot."

"As I was saying, the guy has a horrible sense of direction. He gets lost all the time, the running joke was that he could get lost in a room with one door."

"That's a little hard to believe." Tenchi was able to pry Ryoko off him long enough to take a seat next Sasami.

"You mean like the fact that we're aliens, you're a prince, those two and princesses, she's an evil space pirate, that's her ship, she's from the Galaxy Police, and Washu has a lab that is really freakin huge underneath the steps and is mine and Ryoko's mother."

Tenchi was about to retort when he stopped, closed his mouth, and nodded. "I retract my previous statement."

Breakfast continued as usual, mostly small talk, Ryoko and Ayeka bugging Tenchi about spending the day with. Ranma smiled at Tenchi's poor luck, for some reason she got the feeling that if something had turned out different she would have a similar problem with women.

"Good morning." Everyone turned to find Katsuhito entering the room through the kitchen door. Various replies went out to the priest.

"I've been meaning to tell you Ranma but I extended an open invitation to your mother should she want to visit."

"Hey that's gre, grea, gre, achoo! That's great."

"I would love to meet Nodoka-dono." Washu nodded sagely from her place at the table.

"Is something the matter Ranma?"

"Me I'm fine. Just something in my nose. Achoo!"

"Hmmmm." Blinking at the back of the hand that was now pressed against her forehead she quickly swatted it away. "You have a fever."

"I'm fine."

"Tenchi, you will take over Ranma's duties as well today."

"WHAT!?" Ranma and Tenchi chorused and glared at the priest.

"You're sick, stay home and recover, and Tenchi has been slacking off on his duties. Well all I really had was the news about your mother Ranma. I'll be up at the shrine if anyone needs me."

Glaring at Katsuhito, Ranma prepared to throw a chopstick at the mans head but quickly tucked it behind her back as the priest turned around at the exact moment when she was going to throw it. Whistling innocently she looked around and tried to look nonchalant.

**X X X X X X **

"Ranma-san, are you really alright? You're looking a bit green." Ayeka was a bit worried about the small red head that was wrapped up in a blanket on a couch. It hadn't been that cold outside yesterday but then again Ranma had been outside most of the day. And Ranma's female form had such a small, if overly developed, frame.

"I'm fine! Stupid old man! How dare he tell me that I should take the day off, I'll show him, I'll, I'll, I'll, well I don't know but it'll be terrible! Wait I know I'll get Washu after him! That'll teach him, that dirty old pervert. Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!"

"You seem a bit delirious as well."

"ACHOO!"

"Ranma and Ayeka-neechan would you like some tea?"

"Thanks Sasami." "Thank you Sasami-chan."

"Ahhh that's great stuff." Ranma sighed happily.

"Excuse me Ranma-san but why is it that you don't change back when ingesting hot liquids?"

"Hell if I know. Maybe cause spits hot or something?" Ayeka's eye twitched but she refrained from berating the sick girl. 'It's all because of her horrible father, it's all because of her horrible father, I will not punish someone who doesn't know better.'

"Ranma-san, it is saliva not 'spit', I'm sure both of your mothers would not be happy to hear you speak so uncouth around ladies. Especially as one."

"Huh, oh, I guess, either way. Hey wait a minute maybe if I used spit I could change back whenever I wanted!

"Please don't."

"Yea I guess that would be kinda gross. I'm gonna go get some hot water, I'm tired of being a girl. If I gotta be stuck in the house least I can do is do it as a guy." Ayeka just smiled at that idea being shot down. Ranma returned shortly enough, his hair slightly damp.

"Ahhhhh, I feel better already." The boy did look visibly better as he sat down.

"I'm not surprised." The trio visibly jumped as Washu stood grinning behind them with her hands behind her back.

"What do you mean Washu-sama?"

"I just need to test something out." Quickly bringing up her keyboard she hit several keys. Ayeka shared worried looks with Ranma and Sasami. Everyone had figured out, well with the exception of Mihoshi, that Washu typing on that thing was not a good person to be around. Ayeka yelped when a round yellow thing landed on Ranma's head. "Sit down and relax I just need to take some readings."

Ranma reluctantly did as asked and sat down. The large yellow thing had two large black eyes and a small mark making it appear to have a face. At the bottom it had two three toed feet to provide a base. It's eyes started to blink in random intervals as Washu rapidly typed. "I said relax."

"Washu-sama what is it that you are doing?"

"Ranma's curse is very interesting Ayeka-dono. As you know shapeshifters use a type of body modification that uses up a lot of energy to do. This is especially true for those who do not naturally have the ability. Ranma's curse bypasses the limitation and furthermore can create and destroy mass."

"Matter creation?"

"Ryo-ohki is able to change between ship and companion form by compressing the mass and storing it in subspace. It's inefficient but the only way to do such a thing. Ah there we go." 8 screens with different displays of information popped into existence around them. "Incredible!" Washu's eyes sparkled as she gazed at all the data.

"Can I take this thing off yet?"

"Huh oh yes yes." Washu still had a glazed look in her eye as the device disappeared. "It appears to be pretty standard. You see shapeshifters contain added portions to their DNA that is inactive, when they use their trigger those portions are turned on while the other sections are turned off. Gender shapeshifters have it a little different and with your more unique situation there wasn't much that was changed."

"So then why did you get all excited? And does that mean you can cure me?!"

"Hold on, what I was excited about was an extra that you've picked up. There appears to be an energy matrix surrounding you. The energy for the change comes from that matrix as it absorbs ambient bio energy around you. It's interesting because it's very effective and is able to hold the energy without anything to actually hold it. But it has the added affect of drawing in water to you."

"Wow, so useful. Now I know why I'm a water magnet, my life will be so much better. You're pretty good with that science stuff can ya get rid of it or not?"

"I'm the GREATEST with 'that science stuff'. While the change to your genetic make up is minor I'm hesitant to even unlock your real form after getting this data. There are simply too many unknowns at the moment to even think about trying to remove the extra data."

"But, there's gotta be a cure!" the boy jumped up from his seat and looked at Washu daring her to contradict the statement.

"Sorry Ranma, if there is one, it is specifically made for humans or a species that has drowned in the springs. There is an added problem and benefit. Seems that while your female form appears to be a normal human, it really isn't. Whatever was in the water seemed to view you as already human and used the most human section of your genetic code as a base to create the new form. Of course since you aren't really human, your female form is going through the same unlocking process as your male form. Though the time line appears to have been reset, so you have an added 16 years before your female form would catch up to the male."

"I'm stuck like this? I can't be all guy ever again?" Ranma's shoulders slumped and small tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Ayeka looked worriedly at the boy, this was the first time she had seen him have tears in his eyes. And she felt that this was a rare event, not even being reunited with Nodoka had brought this kind of emotion to his eyes. 'I didn't think that he was that afflicted by the curse. There are certainly worse things he could have changed into.'

Washu patted Ranma on the shoulder and smiled. "I didn't say that, but it'll take time. I wouldn't want to risk turning you into a puddle of gelatinous goo because your genetic structure fell apart. Which reminds me have you decided yet?"

"No, I still haven't really thought about it."

"Thought about what Ranma-san?"

"Uh waiting or having Washu unlock my abilities."

"Why would you wait? I would love to be able to fly around." Sasami said excitedly and mimicked flying by raising her arms in front of her and swaying side to side. Ryo-ohki did likewise but wasn't able to balance on her back legs, causing her to fall off the couch. The cabbit pouted as everyone shared a laugh.

"Yea that would be pretty awesome. It's just."

"You don't want to become a new person." Ranma's eyes widened at Washu. "Remember, mental link. You're worried that you won't be yourself anymore."

"Yea pretty much."

"I suppose I could modify the procedure to make sure you retained your looks now."

"So I would still be same now cept I could do all that stuff?"

"For the most part yes."

"I'll do it."

"I would love to do it right now but there is something in the way."

"What is it?"

"How's your cold?"

"I'm fine like I said." Washu's eyes narrowed and she pushed several keys on her keyboard. The data displays condensed together into one then merged with Washu's laptop as a bucket of water splashed down on Ranma's head. "What did ya do that HMPPH!" Ranma clamped her hands over her mouth and quickly exited the house to throw up outside. Ayeka and Sasami grimaced and Ryo-ohki covered her eyes with her large ears from the sound of Ranma as she finished off into dry heaves.

"Like I thought, the female form is far more human than the male form." A woozy Ranma walked back into the house. She burped a bit but held it in this time and laid down on a couch. "It appears that due to your duel nature an illness that would be nothing to your male form still affects your female."

"Wonderful." Ranma groaned.

"Don't worry, you just have to let it work it's way out of your female form's system and you'll be fine. Sasami-chan do you think you could make sure Ranma remains female until she recovers? She should be fine sometime this afternoon. After all a lot of his basic abilities have filtered over."

"Of course Washu-neechan."

"Why can't I just be a guy." Ranma moaned into the couch.

"Because you decided to come into contact with an interesting and highly advanced form of body modification." Washu supplied and was able to roll Ranma on to her back. "Here, she'll hatch in a couple hours and I wouldn't want you to miss it." Washu smiled and placed Rin-ohki's egg on Ranma's stomach.

"Washu-sama what is that?" Ayeka asked at the large black egg that Ranma was now cuddling with a contented look on her face.

"That is Rin-ohki, Ranma's partner and Ryo-ohki's sister." Sasami and Ryo-ohki were instantly next to Ranma as the red head cradled the egg.

"Really?! Another cabbit, awesome!"

"Miyah miyahmiyah, miyah miyah!" Ryo-ohki agreed and leaped up to curl up next to the egg.

"Another one?" Ayeka frowned, one cabbit was trouble enough, but two under the same roof? Washu just smiled and pulled a blanket of Ranma who was now asleep. Ayeka wasn't sure if it was Ryo-ohki or the red head that was making a purring noise. "And why is Ranma so happy just to hold it?"

"They are already bonded, it's been 2000 years of separation. Normally I can't make out anything distinct over my bond with Ranma, especially when female. But right now she's in heaven and little could break her out of her euphoria. It's best to let her sleep, it'll help her body recover."

"I'll go get Tenchi-niichan and tell him to plant more carrots!"

"Wait Sasami I'll go with you, I would like to see Tenchi-sama as well."

Washu smiled as the princesses left. For royalty they were pretty good to have around. Uncovering Ranma's blanket enough to see Ryo-ohki she patted the cabbit on the head. "Be sure to keep your sister and Ranma safe, alright?"

"Miyah miyah!" The cabbit nodded and snuggled closer to the pair. Pulling the blanket back over the sleeping red head, Washu left to head back to her lab. If she was going to freeze the physical changes it would take a lot of modifications. While she would like to have her son's original form back, she could understand him not wanting to become someone else. After all he already had to deal with that with an application of water.

**X X X X X X**

Up above, Ryoko's head stuck out of the ceiling as she watched the earlier discussion. A frown visible on her face as she passed through the ceiling to go after Washu. Phasing through the wall she teleported to stand next to the waiting scientist. "Good morning Ryoko-chan, how are you today?" Growling she brought forth an energy sword and pointed it at the girls neck. Washu's curious gaze hardened instantly and she traced a path from the tip of the sword up to Ryoko's face. "And just who are you pointing that at?"

"Who are you really? How do you have a cabbit egg?"

"I've explained that yesterday, and I'm not one to tell lies. As for the egg, I created both of your cabbits when I created you and him. It would be cruel to keep those two apart, just as it would be if I kept you from Ryo-ohki. Do you not agree?"

Turning away for a moment she glared through the wall to the spot where Ryo-ohki laid next to Ranma and the new cabbit. She would never admit it but Ryo-ohki was just about the most important thing in her life. Tenchi was the only other person that could claim such an important spot in her heart. Turning back she readied her blade. "I don't care if you made me or not. But I'm not going to let you do as you want."

"Not to be combative, but what will you do to stop me?" Ryoko gasped as her sword disappeared and Washu took a step towards her. Drawing back her hand she got into a stance, prepared to fight the girl physically. When Washu took another step forward she swung her right fist forward to take the girls head off. She froze, arm extended and looking forward. Slowly she drew her eyes down to view the spiky red hair that obscured her vision down.

"I'm sorry Ryoko." Ryoko didn't know what do to. She had been expecting something sinister from the evil little goblin. Racking her brain she tried to remember the last time someone had hugged her. "It's my fault isn't it? It's because I left you the gems that you've been alone all these years, why you ended up here sealed in a cave." (1)

"I don't know what you're talking about." She was able to stutter out, trying to ignore the odd feeling that was coming from somewhere.

"You don't have to lie."

Struggling she escaped the girls arms and jumped back into the air to stand up on the railing of the second story. "I don't know where you got the idea that you can talk to me like that, but if you do, you got another thing coming." Growling she tried to draw forth another sword but her energy seemed to be inaccessible. "Come on you stupid thing, why won't you work!?"

"Ryoko." Washu was looking up at her and had spoken softly. "I won't force you into a family. But don't punish Ranma for my mistakes by taking out your anger on him. I know that you're starting to feel a bond with him. You're twins, such connections are to be expected."

"You must not know who you're talking to! I am the space pirate Ryoko! My very name causes worlds to tremble! Entire civilizations have have been destroyed by my hand! I am a demon known throughout the universe for my cruelty and destruction! And I don't need anyone!" She pronounced and glared down at Washu. Falling backwards she teleported away.

Washu looked up at the spot Ryoko had stood. 'You don't have to lie to me Ryoko, especially since you're so transparent.' Shaking her head she entered her lab.

**X X X X X X**

Shampoo paused behind a tree. The woods around the shrine offered her plenty of cover to move silently and unnoticed towards the home. Warily she watched as a woman and a little girl passed by wearing strange clothing, even for Japan. They didn't look like fighters and she ignored them once past. There were even some odd log things, stationed along a smell fence on the road, that were talking to each other. 'Japan is such a strange place.'

Checking for any watchful eyes she darted across the open ground and flattened herself against the wall of the home. Sidestepping to the opposite side from the main road she peered inside a large windowed door. Inside was a large sparsely furnished room but what caught her eye was the mop of bright red hair that stuck out from a blanket. Quickly looking around to see if anyone else was in the room she slid the door open as silently as possible and stepped in.

Tip toeing forward she paused over the girl. The blanket was nearly covering her head but there was no way she could mistake who this girl was. Pausing to consider her options she drew forth a sword that was strapped to her back. If she killed the girl now she could go back to the village with her honor intact. But if what she had heard was true than this girl might also be a boy. That muddied the waters immensely.

She would love nothing more than to be able to finish this now. Stab the girl, end her life, finally go back home. The travel was nice, and this part of the country almost felt like she was back home. But anytime someone opened their mouth she was reminded that she was among foreigners. Those who would question the ways of the proud Amazon tribe. But she couldn't kill the girl outright now, Jusenkyo could be a very large factor. So for now she would confront the girl and find out the truth.

Pulling the covers up to expose more of the girl, just to be extra sure on who it was. She blinked as she found a large black egg and a small furry creature that was now looking curiously up at her. "Miyah?" It asked and she poked it with her sword. 'What kind of thing is this? Is it some kind of rabbit?' The creature sniffed her blade unafraid then actually took a bite out of it.

"AIYAH! You no eat Shampoo's sword." Clamping a hand over her mouth she looked around to see if anyone would come. Hearing nothing she looked at the ruined point of her sword. An exact semi circle of metal had been eaten. 'It eats steel?' Keeping her sword as far from the creature as possible she poked Ranma several times. "Ranma you wake up."

**X X X X X X**

Ranma was sick, she knew that, and hated every thing about it. That was because Ranma never got sick, in fact she could not remember the last time she had been sick. But all the irritation at being sick, being forced to be a girl, it was washed away when the egg touched her. The cabbit inside the egg had been waiting for 2000 years for her to come.

She paused and tried to figure out how she knew this. There was no real answer but she sensed that it was Rin-ohki talking to her. It was confusing though, the cabbit wasn't communicating with words or even images, just emotions and desires. She assumed it was 2000 years because Rin-ohki had felt that many days of extreme sadness. Ranma associated that day with the day she was sent away as a baby.

'Are you, were you awake all along?' She thought somehow knowing that Rin-ohki would hear it. The answer came with the feeling of long periods of nothing then the loneliness and nothing again. 'Does that mean you slept most of it?' Rin-ohki sent through their link an intense feeling of satisfaction. Happy that she had figured it out Ranma slipped deeper into the feeling of joy Rin-ohki was radiating. 'Don't worry Rin I won't let you be alone ever again.'

Rama's face furrowed in frustration as something hard poked into her arm. Her eyes opened enough to see that it was a sword that was poking her. Drawing her eyes further she found the owner to be a purple haired girl. Dressed in the pink Chinese clothing Ranma had come to know her for. 'Shampoo? What is she doing here?' Certain things now clicked in Ranma's mind. Shampoo did not attack if Ranma had been asleep.

There were several times where she had woken up to find Shampoo dozing or waiting patiently for her before making an attempt on her life. Apparently Shampoo's screwed up sense of honor forbade her from attacking a defenseless opponent. Not that it allowed Ranma to sleep well at night with the Amazon after her life.

"Ranma you." Shampoo started and pulled her sword away. This had two effects, the first was that Ranma was now fully awake, the second was that she was suddenly kicked into attack mode. Normally she would be set to flee, but not today, and especially not now. Right now Rin-ohki was helpless, that was strike one against Shampoo. Ranma was also sick, which was unfamiliar and very annoying, strike two. The third and final one, was that Shampoo had interrupted her reunion with her partner and Ranma was coming to believe that Rin-ohki was even more important than that.

Ranma's hand snapped forward before Shampoo could react and grabbed the sword with her fingers. Kicking herself up and over the two cabbits she rotated in mid air to kick Shampoo just underneath her breasts. There was a crunching noise and the girl was sent flying backwards and into the glass door. It shattered into pieces as Shampoo continued through it to slide across the grass and finally come to rest.

Remaining in a stance she watched Shampoo struggle for breath. The girls struggles ceased and she laid very still. "Ryo-ohki, stay with Rin-ohki." Behind her the cabbit gave off a 'miyah' of affirmation. Expecting some trick Ranma waited patiently but Shampoo never moved. "Shampoo? Whatever you're up to isn't gonna work." Getting no response her look softened and she approached the downed girl, careful to step around the glass shards. "Hey come on stop it." Using a foot she nudged the girl, being careful to remain out of striking distance.

"Shampoo?" Kneeling next to the girl she shook her shoulder. "Hey come on this isn't funny." Shaking a little harder Shampoo move enough to expose a small puddle of blood spreading out from under her body.

**X X X X X X**

Washu paused as she was running through a checklist of specimens that had survived. This portion of her lab consisted of live creatures that she had collected. Large platforms stretched across the endless void that dropped beneath. Further down was another platform and then another and another, so on till it reached the bottom. Alongside each were cages and tanks, some stretched down through multiple stories to contain the creatures within.

"Ranma, what's wrong?" Her laptop displayed the image of a very distraught red head carrying a purple haired girl. "And who's that?"

"Can you help her? I hurt her real bad."

"I guess so, I'll put you through to my medical lab." Quickly inputing the command Ranma's image left her laptop and she quickly made her way to the lab. Inside Ranma was still holding the girl in her arms and was looking worriedly at her. Hitting a button on the wall a bed materialized in front of her. "Put her on the bed." Ranma complied and the girl was laid down on her side.

"I kicked her and I think I heard a crunch and then she flew through the door and fell on some glass." Quickly Washu put on some gloves and with some scissors she cut off the girls clothing. Grabbing some forceps, she examined the pieces that were sticking from the girls back and legs. It looked worse than the actual damage was as they were only small shards. Carefully pulling out the pieces of glass she sprayed on disinfectant to the wounds before placing small stick on bandages to cover them.

Gently laying the girl on her back she examined her front. A large bruise was forming just below her bust and gently prodding with her fingers caused a wince from the unconscious girl. Frowning she hit several buttons on the edge of the bed to bring up a small arm at the foot of the bed. Another bar shot out from it to go the width of the bed and it moved up and over the girl before returning to the foot of the bed and sliding back into it's slot.

A screen sprung up over the girls entire body and showed her skeleton in white and the broken portions in neon green. 'My my what did you do to the poor girl Ranma-chan? 10 broken ribs along with a several fractures along the sternum. Not to bad for a single kick, I may have to come up with some way to limit his strength so he can grow into it. It would avoid the problems Ryoko had when she was younger.' (2)

"Looks like you broke several ribs, she also appears to have a light concussion from hitting her head." Pulling a sheet up and over the girls body to provide some modesty she hit several more keys. Abruptly a cylindrical energy field encircled the girl and bathed her in a soft green glow. "This will help her breath and accelerate the healing process. By tomorrow the bones should be healed and I can let her out. Though she'll be bruised pretty bad for a while."

"So she's going to be alright?"

"Nothing appears to be life threatening and with my technology she'll be fine. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I thought she was going to attack me and Rin and so I stopped her." Ranma stood worriedly next to the bed and stared at the girl. "I didn't want to hurt her."

Sensing her child's distress she patted her on the shoulder. "I'll go get Rin-ohki."

In the living room Washu found Ryo-ohki looking around fearfully, the little cabbit completely out of her element on how to deal with the situation. Immediately she jumped up into her arms and started making rapid fire miyahs. "Easy easy, every thing's going to be fine."

Helping Ryo-ohki get to a position on her shoulder she gathered up Rin-ohki's egg as well as the blanket and examined the damage. Ranma's aim had been perfect to send the girl through the glass and on to the lawn where a puddle of blood had now dried to a crusty brown.

Dismissing it as unimportant she returned to her lab. Ranma hadn't moved and was currently tearing the bottom of her shirt apart as she used her hands to knead the fabric. Activating a reclining chair to form next to the bed she handed off Rin-ohki and Ryo-ohki follow suit, jumping over to nuzzle Ranma, she gently lead her 'son' to sit in the chair before pulling the blanket over the trio. Trying to reassure Ranma with a smile she excused herself to get back to her project.

"I could have killed her." Pausing she turned back to Ranma. "I would have, if she had done anything to hurt Rin, I would have." The girl finished in a soft voice. Sighing in defeat over getting any work done she went back next to Ranma. Materializing her mid air cushion she sat down on it.

"It was an accident. She surprised you and you reacted."

"But it wasn't an accident!" Ranma's breathing was erratic as she stared down at her hands. "I knew what she would try to do, what she has tried to do, and I acted to make sure she couldn't hurt Rin."

"You protected your partner, that's all that matters."

"No it isn't! I'm a martial artist, it's my duty to protect the weak not hurt people!"

Leaning forward she grabbed Ranma's chin and forced the girl to look up into her eyes. 'Dilated pupils, cold skin, irregular and rapid breathing, and anxiety. A mild case of psychological shock.' Gently smiling she pushed Ranma back so the girl laid down. The taller red head didn't resist and Washu was able to cover her with the blanket. Ryo-ohki curled up in the crook between Ranma's neck and shoulder and the girl was clutching Rin-ohki's egg like a life preserver.

"Relax Ranma, you seem to have a mild cause of shock. Do you feel Rin-ohki?" Ranma nodded. "Can you tell me what she says?"

"She's worried, and sad. But she's happy because she gets to be born soon."

"Does she know how soon?"

"Now." As if on cue a cracking noise came from underneath the blanket. Ranma sat up and put the egg on top of the blanket. Like Ryo-ohki's hatching the egg developed a spiderweb of cracks with a red light illuminating them. In a puff of steam the top cracked open spraying egg shards around the immediate area. The cabbit rotated around in the egg to pop her head out of the opening, her giant ears flopping down.

"Congratulation Ranma-chan, it's a cabbit."

Washu smiled as Ranma picked up the cabbit. Ryo-ohki jumped down to meet the new arrival which accented their differences. Ryo-ohki was brown in color and Rin-ohki was that same color but with a reddish hue. The older cabbit was also larger, but Rin-ohki would catch up soon enough. The two cabbits looked at each other curiously for a moment, sizing up the other, before they 'miyah'ed' happily and started to nuzzle each other.

It was puzzling how connected the two seemed. Ranma should have only a rudimentary connection to the cabbit, similar to her own with Ranma but they were communicating quite clearly. Bringing up her laptop she started a scan. When the results came in her eyes widened. 'But how? Ranma shouldn't have this much of his original genetic code.'

"Ranma have you been around or touched the gems at all? And were you a girl at the time?"

"Gems? I think I hit one in Ryoko's wrist when I first met her. And I grabbed the tenchi-ken which had two in it. Stupid thing zapped me. And yea I was a girl at the time. Why?" Tapping a finger on the laptop she examined Ranma. 'Well I guess it's good that Rin-ohki was born. It seems to have calmed her down a lot. As for the gems it seems to have had the added effect of reverting him back to his original form faster than anticipated. Just like how they stopped Ryoko from undergoing the process. How exactly did I miss this?'

"No reason really. Try to stay warm and get some rest. I'll check back with you in a bit."

"But I'm really feeling better."

"I said rest! I don't care about your bravado." Ranma looked like she was going to ask something else but nodded reluctantly and curled up on her side with the cabbits next to her stomach.

**X X X X X X**

"What happened here?" Ayeka looked around at the destroyed door and the brown spot that was out further on the yard. Next to her Tenchi, Sasami, and Mihoshi did likewise. Entering the home they found no sign of Ranma. "Watch out for the glass Sasami." The girl nodded and stepped around it quickly.

"Where's Ranma-neechan?"

On the opposite side of the room the door opened revealing Washu. "Washu-sama what happened here?"

"We have a little visitor Ayeka-dono. Ranma dispatched her before she could cause any harm and they are both in my lab right now. Ranma-chan got a little rough, as you can see."

"Is Ranma alright Washu?" Mihoshi asked.

"A little worked up, she did kick the girl through the glass door hard enough to nearly cave in her ribcage. But now that Rin-ohki is out of her egg, she's providing Ranma comfort."

"Why did Ranma attack someone?" Tenchi asked as he went to grab a broom and dust pan.

"You'll have to ask Ranma, I only know what happened not why. I just came out to get her something to drink."

"I'll help!" Sasami called out and moved to help Washu in the kitchen. Mihoshi followed shortly

Ayeka was unsure on what she should do. Tenchi could handle the glass and Sasami with Mihoshi were helping Washu. That left her with little to do, so she settled for moving to the lab entrance and waiting patiently. Mihoshi would after all get in the way enough, and she would never admit it but she wasn't all that good around the kitchen as it was.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma smiled as she and Rin-ohki looked at each other. The cabbit was sitting in her lap and they were, well she didn't know what they were doing. It was like they were talking but without words. Though Rin-ohki was starting to bring in some words, as if she was learning just by Ranma thinking of them.

"She's so cute!" Ranma jumped out of the chair as Sasami cried out. Rin-ohki in her hands and Ryo-ohki positioned on her head. Calming down in mid air she fell back down on the chair and smiled at the group that was now in the medical lab with her. Sasami quickly came up and stared in awe at the reddish cabbit that approached her.

"Rin-ohki?" The girl asked and received a happy miyah. "WAIII so cute!" The cabbit was quickly gathered up and hugged fiercely. Ryo-ohki gave off a protesting miyah and was grabbed as well to be hugged by the girl.

"Ranma-san why were you staring at Rin-ohki like that?"

"Oh heh heh I was, actually I don't know what I was doing. I guess I was talken to her."

"That's your mental link. Ryoko has one with Ryo-ohki, and I have one with both you and Ryoko."

"Really? I didn't really know what you were talken bout before." Scratching the back of her head she chuckled.

"And why aren't you resting?"

"I feel a lot better now." Seeing Washu's disbelieving look she waved her arms in warding. "Really I feel a lot better. Sorry bout getting all weird earlier."

"No reason to apologize. How's our patient doing?"

"Here Ranma we brought you something to drink." Ranma blinked down at the glass of water placed in front of her face.

"Thanks Mihoshi." Mentally she sighed. 'Why couldn't it have been hot water for once?'

"She appears to be healing well. Just to be sure she doesn't get up and damage herself, I'll keep her sedated till I am sure her ribs are back together."

"Who is this girl Ranma?" Tenchi asked while looking down at the purple haired girl.

"Not someone I ever wanted to see again thats who. But that doesn't mean I wanted to hurt her, even if she is trying to kill me."

"Kill you?!" Sasami's lapse in concentration allowed Rin-ohki to struggle from the girls grasp and leap back over to Ranma where the cabbit quickly assumed a position on her shoulder. Ryo-ohki settled for jumping up on Sasami's head.

"Ah heh heh, it was about a week after I got my curse and me and Oyaji were traveling with the Guide to a nearby village to pick up supplies and see about a cure. It just so happens that we show up when their having a tournament or something. Me and Oyaji were hungry so we started eating at this table thinken that it was like a big buffet. Turns out it was the first prize, stupid jackass Guide never did tell us anything important till after the fact."

"I really wish you would stop calling that man your father Ranma."

"Yea me too, but it's habit. Anyways Shampoo here won just as we started eating and I ended up challenging her so that the food would be ours. I beat her easy by kicking her off the log we were using as a ring and she up and kisses me on the cheek. Turns out that they have this stupid law that if they lose they give ya the 'kiss of death' and will hunt you down and kill you."

"How barbaric!"

"Tell me about it. Guess she found me again some how, and that's why I ended up kicking her through the window."

"Do you mind if I turn her into a guinea pig Ranma-chan? I would love to know how she was able to bypass my early warning sensors."

" Nah she doesn't deserve that. Sides she never really seemed all that serious about it." Her stomach chose this moment to let off a protest for it's neglect. "Um is anyone else hungry?" Rin-ohki also sent through the link a feeling of hunger. "Rin is hungry too." A short order of agreement from the assembled crew and they were heading off to get some lunch.

Except Washu stopped her as she was about to leave through the door. "Huh what is it?"

"Ranma, earlier I found out something that you may not like. It seems that your proximity and contact with the gems has changed how fast you're reverting to your real form."

"Uh alright."

"Basically where before it was linear now it is exponential. And I can only deduce that having Rin-ohki around will speed it up even further. What it means is that if you want to look as close to you are now, I'll need to do the process by 8pm tonight."

"I thought you said I had like 50 years!"

"No I said it would happen when you were 50 years old. This situation is far from ideal, I'm going to spend the rest of the time modifying the process to halt the cosmetic changes. I won't really have time take the 'curse' into consideration. Playing around with genetics like this is never easy, I can easily do it if I have a stable base to work with but you don't have that. It's why when I was first freed, I chose to just revert your age over turning you into a kappa."

" The other option is that I do nothing, which is my preferred method.. Though there is no guarantee that something unexpected wouldn't happen that way either. Before I go doing all the work I need to know what you want to do. Is it worth the possible risk just to look as you do now?"

Ranma paused as she carefully coming up with a response that she hoped would make herself clear. "I already gotta turn into someone else, but at least I look like a female version of myself. I don't want to see a stranger for the rest of my life. It's, I hate it, I hate becoming someone else. I've trained all my life to have control, and I can't think of a worse thing that losing it."

"I suppose that's as good a reason as any. I'll do my best, but if I am not satisfied with what I can come up with I won't do it. There's simply too large a risk. If I didn't know how much it bothers you, I wouldn't even think of doing this. Now run along and get some food."

"Thanks Washu."

"Thanks what? If I'm going to work my backside off preparing this you better start calling me mom."

"Oh right, thanks uh mom."

"Good boy, now get going. Oops before I forget make sure you tell Tenchi that I haven't forgotten about him."

"Forgotten what?"

" Oh nothing, but be sure to tell him."

**X X X X X X**

Ryoko sat cross legged on top of the shrines main building. Face contorted in an scowl she rested her head in her hands and watched Katsuhito as he swept the falling leaves. Behind her the pseudo tail that she liked lashed around angrily. 'Not one, not one person came looking for me. They formed a search party when that girl boy brother of mine got his panties in a wad.'

"If you keep such an angry face it will stay that way." The old priest smiled up at her and her scowl increased.

"Shut up ya old geezer or else I'll make you pay for what that bastard Yosho did to me." Floating up into the air she teleported to the side of him, continuing to stay in mid air she hadn't moved from her sitting position.

"Is there something this old priest could help you with?"

"Not if you can get rid of all the distractions to my Tenchi."

"So he's a piece of property then?"

"Of course not, he's not loot, but he belongs to me."

"How so?"

"What are you getting at old man?"

"Me? Nothing, certainly a smart girl like you could figure out why you are disliked around the home."

Materializing in front of the priest she growled in his face. "What do I care about being liked or disliked? All I care about is Tenchi."

"So why does Tenchi not return your fervor?"

"My what? Wait never mind, it's all because of that stupid _princess_ Ayeka. She's filling his head with crap about Jurai. Like Tenchi really wants any part of that place."

"And why wouldn't he? He would be a prince there, that's a powerful incentive for any lad."

"And probably end up marrying some cousin." Blinking she scratched her head. "Actually wasn't Yosho supposed to marry his sister? Freaking weirdo's."

"With the technology available wouldn't they avoid the normal problems accrued by marrying close relatives?"

"So what? It's sick that's what it is. I couldn't imagine marryin." Trailing off she floated a short distance away to float in the air.

"Marrying Ranma? Tenchi told me of your relation."

"I still don't believe that little goblin Washu."

"Is that how you do things? Ignore others and just do what you want?"

"Of course, it's always worked in the past." The old priest chuckled and she was sorely tempted to gut him where he stood.

"I'm afraid that won't work if you wish to pursue Tenchi. You won't be able to force him, and if you try to it'll only push him away."

"Shows what you know old man, Tenchi's destined to be with me. He just doesn't realize it yet."

"Not if you continue on your current path. You may want to look at how the others interact with Tenchi if you hope to 'win' his affections."

"Yea right old man, blah blah blah. All you know how to do is talk. That's why you're living at some shrine till the end of your days. That must be pretty soon, seeing how wrinkly you are. I'll lay a flower on your grave, might even say something good about ya. If I can think of anything that is."

"I thank you. But I am afraid there are a few more years left in this old man. Not all of us can be as long lived as your family and the Jurains."

"Family? Yea right."

"You seem awfully set against having one."

"Like I need some little goblin and a cat phobic girl boy for a family."

"Have you ever had a family before Ryoko?"

"I've never needed one." Of course she had been with a family. Worthless trash had thrown her away. Too bad she hadn't been the one to send them to their graves.

"Maybe you should try. After all if you want Tenchi he'll end up wanting to create one."

"That's true, guys like that kind of thing don't they?"

"Usually the women more so but guys as well."

"Well if it's for Tenchi I suppose I could look into this family thing. Got any other insights on what Tenchi wants old man? This does make you more useful, I might not end up killing you after all."

"Harmony."

"Harmony? What kind of crock advice are you giving? Just when I thought you'd be useful."

"Just try being nicer to the others and you'll see what I mean. It's been nice talking to you Ryoko, you aren't as bad as my ancestor made you out to be." Still in her position she watched the priest head off to do whatever old farts like him did.

Glaring at the priest she started to float towards the house. "Stupid old man. They should be happy I don't just vaporize them."

**X X X X X X**

Dinner was a subdued affair, Ryoko was being unusually quiet but still passing angry glances at Ayeka. The patio door was closed with some plastic sheeting before it could be replaced with a new pane of glass. Understandably this made the living room a bit drafty and everyone was wearing an extra layer of clothing.

Once dinner was finished they separated but still were together. Tenchi was sandwiched between the attentions of Ryoko and Ayeka. Sasami and Mihoshi had cleaned up and were now gushing over some manga at the dinner table. Ryo-ohki was sitting next to Ranma who finally had been reverted to his birth form and was camped out next to the window along with Rin-ohki who was playing with the larger Ryo-ohki. And if it hadn't been for the warm sunlight still coming through the window he would have stolen Ryoko's blanket from up in the rafters.

Feeling a tug through his connection with Rin-ohki he checked the road leading up to the shrine. A taxi was quickly moving up the road. "Hey anyone expecting visitors?"

"I don't think so." Tenchi used it as an excuse to escape the duo's attentions and came next to Ranma to look out at the road. "Two taxi's." Sure enough another was following.

"Well let's go meet whoever made the trek out here." Gathering up Rin-ohki so she could sit on his head Ranma and the rest of the house minus Washu went out to greet the arrivals. The first taxi arrived quickly and Ranma found that it was Nodoka and the three Tendo sisters that were in it.

"What the mom? What are you doing here? And why did THEY come?"

The kimono clad woman smiled at him. "Why I wanted to see my son. Katsuhito-san gave me an open invitation. Didn't he tell you? I asked if we were welcome to come today."

"No." I'll have to hit the old pervert for this later.

"And I asked them along so that I could have some company." Seemingly satisfied with him Nodoka greeted the other occupants of the house and then the Tendo sisters followed suit. Though Ranma noticed a very angry glare coming his way from Nabiki. What for, he had no clue.

"Do you know who's in that other taxi?" He asked when he noticed that it was just about to pull up.

"Not at all it was just us four that I had planned to come." The driver of Nodoka's taxi quickly unloaded the luggage and made a hasty exit.

Nabiki in keeping with her glare came up and sidled right next to him. Edging away from the girl she whispered to him. "Saotome, your little pet, the space ship thing does it like electronics perchance?" Blinking at the odd question he sent Rin-ohki a mental picture of his alarm clock. Instantly he could feel her ask if she could eat it.

"Um maybe."

"What are you two talking about?" Turning they found an irritated looking Akane glaring at him. "You're not trying anything with my sister are you?"

"Her of course not, what the hell gave you that idea?"

"Ranma isn't that your dad in the taxi?" Sure enough the bald martial artist stepped from the other taxi carrying a pet carrier.

"Oyaji? Damn it, what the hell are you doing here? And what's in that thing?"

"Genma you followed us?"

"Daddy what are you doing?"

"Stay out of this girls we need to talk with my boy right now." Unsure on how to act Ranma was pulled away from the group. Both he and Rin-ohki were curious over what the man wanted. Sides the old man might just give him a laugh. Who knew what hair brained scheme the old man had come up with.

"Do you think Ranma will be alright?" Tenchi asked.

"He can handle himself." Ryoko responded and stroked a finger on the boys chest.

"Oh dear I hope I wasn't mislead by Katsuhito-san's invitation."

"No it's alright, please come inside. So how was the trip?"

"Gorgeous this is such a scenic area."

"Thank you for bringing us Auntie, it's nice to get away for a while." Kasumi smiled pleasantly as she followed the group in.

**X X X X X X**

"Boy what do you think you're doing? Running off like that?" Sighing Ranma shifted on his feet and crossed his arms. On his head Rin-ohki looked on with curiosity but could feel his anger at Genma and gave off her own weak glare.

"Indeed son this is a matter of family honor."

"Like you know anything about honor old man, what did you sell me to this guy for anyways? Or were ya too sloshed to remember?"

"Don't question me Ranma, and what is that thing on your head anyways? It looks like something a girl would carry around!"

"Don't talk about Rin like that!" Glaring at the old man he didn't notice Soun circling around to his back and pull out a rope.

"Now Tendo!" Jumped from behind he fell to the ground on his face.

"What the hell?!" Struggling he was quickly tied up by the two older men. Sitting on the ground with his entire body bound by a long rope, he struggled to get free. Rin-ohki jumped on the rope and started to gnaw through it.

"Stupid boy, family honor must be fulfilled."

"Grr, when I get out of this old man I'm gonna pound you into paste!"

"Oh?" A cat was suddenly shoved in his face.

"AAAAH!" Falling backwards he looked up in horror at the feline now dangling over him. "GET IT AWAY GET IT AWAY!" Trying in vain to move away he was stopped by Soun who held him in place.

"Just promise on your honor to marry one of my daughters and you can go son."

"No never!" The cat was lowered. "STOP GET IT AWAY!" Vaguely he felt Rin-ohki trying to send comforting thoughts but the irrational terror washed it away.

"Come on if you just agree to honor the pact I'll take it away." Genma let the cat drop down even further as Rin-ohki hissed angrily at Genma. "Stupid thing." Genma grabbed Rin-ohki with his free hand and dropped her in the pet carrier. "There we go. Now if you promise I'll take the cat away and you can have that thing back. Otherwise I'll take it to the vet and have it put down. My son doesn't need to have some girls pet."

"Saotome-kun are you sure about this?"

"Of course Tendo-kun, it takes way more cats that this for him to go into the neko-ken."

"That wasn't really what I was talking about."

"Nonsense, it's punishment for his disobedience." Genma smiled cruelly and sat the cat down on his chest. Ranma's mouth opened and closed rapidly and he couldn't breath any faster. In fact he was breathing so fast that he wasn't taking in enough oxygen. "Just promise me boy and I'll take the cat away. Come on promise me you'll fulfill the pact. And once I get rid of that thing you can get a real manly pet."

Anything else that Genma said was ignored. In fact Ranma forgot about the cat completely. 'How dare he treat Rin like that! This bastard isn't even my father! And now he's using the neko-ken against me, just like he does whenever he wants me to do something!'

In the dark recesses of Ranma's psyche, the feral portion stirred. It wasn't exactly a cat personality. While being put through the neko-ken training the boy had dug deep, so deep that he had come upon buried instincts. As Ranma's higher functions shut down the cat portion came forth and it's eyes narrowed as he saw the most hated human in it's existence.

**X X X X X X**

Soun was having a major change of heart over this whole thing. His old training partner and best friend in the world had lead him to believe that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. In and out, In with the cat, out with the boy. But this, it was like torture, and to do it to someones own son? The life a martial artist was fraught with peril, but nothing about this struck him as for the art.

"Saotome-kun I don't know if I can go along with this. I've never seen someone so terrified of cats before. Are you sure that you caused this?" He was having a difficult time holding the boy, Ranma was incredibly strong, if it wasn't for his wild movement he would have gotten away.

"I had to Tendo-kun, the boy wouldn't listen otherwise. All he did was mope about and cry for his mother, I did it so I could get a clean slate to work with, the perfect base to build the best martial artist ever off of! You have no clue how good the boy is, it would have been a waste for him not to learn."

"You did what?" Soun stood and released Ranma. "You did it so you could force him to learn the art?" Ranma's struggles ceased and he lay still looking at the cat that now sat on his chest.

"He was too weak before, I needed to instill the essence of a wild beast in him!"

"But you told me the technique was fake!"

"Uh well, not all of it. But that's all in the past now, the boy's here, he'll promise to marry one of your daughters, and family honor will be upheld." Genma looked down at Ranma again as the cat hissed and jumped away to dart into the forest. "But cats always seek him out, they only run away when...when..."

"When what?"

"When Ranma is in the neko-ken." The two shared a look of horror and looked down at Ranma. Genma for his part knew that this was really really bad. Especially when the ropes simply fell through Ranma and the boy got on all fours to glare hatefully at Genma. Rational thought had fled the boy and only the cold calculating eyes of a beast stared at the pair. (3)

**X X X X X X**

Ranma-neko eyed the bad man who dared to touch his child. Well not really his child, but close enough, and close was all Ranma-neko really needed. Growling he jumped forward and swiped at the men to ward them off. They both turned tail and ran from him. Ranma-neko watched them leave, making sure they gone before padding forward to destroy the cage Rin-ohki was trapped in. The cabbit was quickly beneath him and rubbing against his front paws. Turning to the direction the bad men had been he let off an angry hiss.

Wanting nothing more than to chase the man down and slice him to pieces, the urge to protect warred with the urge to chase, but in the end Ranma-neko chose to guard his child. Looking around wearily at the open field he now found himself in, he looked around for any threats. Finding none he laid down and rubbed his face against Rin-ohki who returned it.

Ranma-neko didn't remember ever having a child. Well Ranma-neko didn't remember much other than how the bad man was a human he had to attack on sight. Mating was not something he remembered. It was confusing and beyond Ranma-neko's reasoning to figure out so he went with it.

Letting off a happy meow he grabbed Rin-ohki by the scruff of the neck and started to trot off on all fours to the woods. Pausing in mid step he cocked his head to the side. There was an odd feeling. Letting Rin-ohki to the ground he examined his back leg. There had been an odd twitch. Oops there it was again but in his arm. Frowning in confusion he was about to pick up Rin-ohki and continue to the forest when his entire body spasmed.

**X X X X X X**

"So what does Ryo-ohki eat?" Nabiki asked Ryoko as the girl tried to gain Tenchi's affections. The middle Tendo was impressed with the house. Three stories, new western style construction designed to last. Unlike their traditional home that was made from more easily damaged materials. She also found this Ryoko girl a bit more interesting than just her space ship pet. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't about to take no for an answer. 'A kindred spirit perhaps?'

"Ryo-chan loves carrots!" The little girl Sasami answered and the cabbit gave her affirmation. Nabiki smiled at the little girl, so much like Kasumi. In fact the pair had been talking about some recipe.

Further conversation was cut off as Washu burst into the room. "What's going on?" The small scientist demanded and looked around wildly. "One of my sensors just went off over some sudden surge of power."

"Nothing is happening here Washu." Tenchi answered.

Washu suddenly was at the patio window looking out. "Oh no!" The small girl quickly ran outside leaving a confused house in the wake.

"Who was that?" Nabiki asked.

"That was Washu-san, Ranma's mother." Mihoshi supplied.

"MOTHER!?" Was Nodoka's response as the woman quickly took off to follow. Shrugging her shoulders Nabiki followed as the rest of the people moved to exit the house.

**X X X X X X**

Washu froze outside of the door and blocked the path for others as they followed out. Quickly bringing up her laptop she formed a protective bubble around the group as a red wave of energy crashed over them. At its origin stood Ranma on all fours. Details were obscured by a sharp red glow. But the boy was about a quarter of the way around the lake and even at the distance she could tell he was in obvious pain.

"Washu what's going on?!" Tenchi asked as she rapidly hit keys.

"No time to explain, Ryoko, go grab Rin-ohki. She's next to Ranma."

"What why?"

"Because you're the only one who can survive another blast like that. NOW DO IT!"

"Alright alright." The former space pirate faded from view then returned a moment later with the cabbit in question. "Here ya go." The cabbit squealed in fright and jumped on Washu's shoulder. Sparing a few moments she gave the cabbit several pats on the head and received her neck nuzzled in response.

"It's alright Rin-ohki, Ranma should be fine. Well, he should be." Washu wasn't particularly sure on what would happen.

"I demand to know what is going on." Washu paused in collecting readings to turn to a regal looking woman, who was a dead ringer for Ranma's female form.

"You must be Nodoka-dono, I'm sorry but I do not have time to explain the situation right now. Please everyone just stay in the bubble."

"Why do we have to stay in this thing?" Akane asked and glared at the small red head.

"Look at the siding of the house." Washu having no time to deal with children didn't even look back at the girl. The collective group gasped as they saw the paint peeling from the house. Looking around they found the grass was withering and dieing "It should be over soon. Ah there he is, that worthless excuse for a human."

On Washu's screen was the location of Soun and Genma. They had not run far away and were hiding behind trees to protect themselves from the energy waves. Not that it would do much good and the two were probably having a hard time of it. Next to them Ayeka's guardians shimmered into existence.

"Princess our sensors alerted us to the energy and came to protect you. What would you have us do?"

"Hey logs, do your sensors detect the two males to the northwest of here?"

"We do Washu-sama."

"Good go keep them captive till I can get to them."

"I'm sorry Washu-sama but we cannot act in such a way without Ayeka-sama's orders."

"Ayeka-dono please have them do as I have asked."

"Um as you wish Washu-sama. Azaka, Kamidake go capture the two humans."

"As you wish Ayeka-sama." The two logs shimmered from view.

"Good it's finally dieing out. My my Ranma-chan had a bit of energy stored up." In response to her words one last wave of energy was buffeted by the barrier and Ranma's form fell to the ground. "Should be fine to exit the barrier now." Ignoring the group she ran across the field to Ranma's side. Around the boy was spherical indentation of rapidly cooling glass. For about 10 meters around his form the ground was bare of grass as it was incinerated. Further out all the way to the home the grass had simply withered and died. Several gasps came from around her as the rest caught up.

"What happened to Ranma-niichan?"

"He just forced his powers to activate. And ahead of schedule by nearly an hour and a half. I was right, exposure to Rin-ohki would speed up the process. Those energy waves were his body expelling the extra energy it couldn't handle. That's why they got weaker and weaker till his body no long had to expel it. And I know those two males had everything to do with it." Shaking her head she sighed. "And I was just about to perfect the process too." Bringing up her laptop she summoned a medical bed to rise up from underneath her son's form. She had miscalculated his position and part of his body was off of it. 'A tail?' Hanging from behind him was a long black appendage.

The bed moved out of the glass dome and she was able to examine him closer. Height was the same, clothing had been burned away leaving nothing but a black skintight battle suit. Grabbing the tail she found it to be nothing but cloth. 'Phew, Ranma really wouldn't have liked that one.'

Pushing him to lay him flat on his back she found his face had changed little, aside from his eyes being a bit more angular and less Japanese. His hair was a very dark shade of red bordering on black and was now longer in the back with a similar style to Ryoko's. The back reached down to the bottom of his shoulder blades and the front changed little except to become a bit more spiky. Both of Ranma's ears had stayed in their position but had changed into a pair of triangular cat ears. They were hairless but were as large as Ryoko's squared off ones.

Finally taking time to examine the people around her she noticed the 4 new arrivals. Three younger girls, a Sasami type, a clever one, and and angry one. Along with those three were Nodoka who she could have easily picked out as Ranma's Earth mother with the physical similarities. 'That makes 7 people that got by my early warning net. My sensors are going to need an overhaul if they have missed all these people showing up. Maybe it isn't calibrated for normal humans? Oh Washu, always forgetting something as simple as that.' (4)

"I'm going to take Ranma back to my lab to run some tests to be sure everything has settled down. Nodoka-dono you are welcome to come, I am sure you have questions."

"Will my son be alright?"

"If you had asked about 3 hours ago I would have said I don't know. But Ranma's condition seems to be far more stable now. That is, in answer to your question, yes he will. Mihoshi-dono I need to talk with you as well. Ayeka-dono please have your guardians keep those two humans who started this mess out of trouble."

**X X X X X X**

"Washu-san this is, I don't really know how to say it, it's incredible." The small scientist giggled as she sat on her mid air cushion. Nodoka and Mihoshi were kneeling on cushions on the ground in front of her.

"I get that a lot. Mihoshi don't touch that."

"Ok." The blonde whined but eyed the interesting button.

"This is just the entrance to my lab, I use it as an easy access point to the other sections. I know it will be a bit much for you to take in all at once, so I won't share with you it's exact dimensions. The other portion we were just in is the medical complex that I have setup. Ranma appears to be fine but needs some rest."

"Thank you for taking care of him Washu-san."

"No need to thank me, I would have done it anyways. Now what I really wanted to discuss with you is a matter that Mihoshi-dono can help us with."

"Me?"

"You are a member of the Galaxy Police are you not?"

"Oh right, yes I'm a detective first class."

"What I would like Mihoshi-dono is to bring Ranma's _father_ up on charges of child abuse. As much as I would love to keep him and use him as a guinea pig for some of the more, involved, experiments I could come up with. I do not like to keep sentients captive unless they have done something truly terrible. And Genma has been lucky enough not to pass that line yet."

"Well I, I guess I would have to know exactly what things he has done before I could do anything. And my ship is damaged so I couldn't put in the paperwork. Poor Yukinojo..."

"Don't worry about that, as soon as this mess with Ranma is cleared up, I'll fix it right up for you."

"REALLY!? Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!" The greatest scientific genius in the entire universe waited for Mihoshi to calm down and release her.

"Washu-san this is all really difficult for me to understand. But did not Mihoshi-san call you Ranma's mother earlier?"

"I suppose I should explain that to you."

"Does Ranma know?" Washu noted Nodoka's worry and how she was destroying a sleeve of her kimono. 'Just like Ranma.'

"Yes, he found out the other day."

"Is he mad at me?"

"No, please let me tell you the entire story on how Ranma came to be on this planet."

"This planet? You mean, that he's an alien?"

"Nodoka-dono, with the exception of Tenchi-dono, none of us here are from this planet. Tenchi-dono is himself part Jurain. But rest assure we are not here to take over." Her eyes quickly moved to Mihoshi who had moved closer to a control panel. "Mihoshi!" The girl fell back and pouted. "Would you be so kind as to wait outside. It may take me a while and I'm sure you could go question Genma about his actions with Ranma." (5)

"Um alright, right away. Detective first class Kuramitsu Mihoshi is on the case." The blonde saluted and was able to leave the room on the first attempt.

"She may not seem it but she really is a good officer. Now back to Ranma, you see he and Ryoko are twins, I created them shortly before I was captured by the Galaxy Police."

"By the police? What for?"

"Ah heh heh, it's not really that important. To make a long story short, Ranma ended up on Earth and took on the characteristics of humans in order to blend in. It was a defense system I put in that was supposed to further help him assimilate until he could protect himself. Included with that was a bonding system."

"What does this system do?"

"You are a product of that."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"You've met Ryo-ohki, and today you've met Rin-ohki. Both of them are mentally bonded to Ryoko and Ranma. A similar process was used unwittingly on you by Ranma."

"Excuse me?"

"Because Ranma wouldn't have real parents on whatever planet he ended up on, it was my attempt to give him as close to one as possible. It is the reason he looked so much like you. As well as why he would have been very close to you when younger."

"I had just assumed he was a distant relative."

"What I would like to do, is remove the link."

"You want to take Ranma away from me don't you?"

"No, that is not my intention. My intention is to allow you to think clearly. My greatest weakness is my penchant for doing more than needed. I believe the link is far too strong and has actually brain washed you to a small extent."

"It doesn't feel like I have been brain washed."

"You wouldn't know."

"In that case I am happier not knowing if I am. Ranma is all that I have in my life. I would never risk that again. Genma has changed greatly from the man I married. And I do not doubt he would leave me without a second thought."

"Is that your final answer?"

"If this bond is as you say it is, do you have to ask?"

"No I suppose not. Well now that that's out of the way." Clasping her hands she made her eyes sparkle. "How cute was Ranma-chan when he was little?"

"Oh he was just the most adorable little boy, if I had known I would have brought some pictures. I remember the first time I met him he had the most striking golden eyes...Oh my that is where I remember Ryoko's eyes from, I suppose this explains why the next time I saw him they were blue. Well anyways he was such a little bundle of energy I remember this one time ..."

An entire planet's distance away was Ranma in the medical wing. The sleeping boy let off several loud sneezes and if he had been awake he would have felt complete dread.

**X X X X X X**

Light years away on the planet Jurai, sat the emperor Masaki Azusa Jurai. Relaxing upon the throne of his home world he ruled the most powerful empire in the universe. The throne room was vast, designed to emphasize his power in an intimidating display to any visiting dignitary or royalty that he might have an audience with.

His throne sat a top a large hill, several flights of steps were required to get up to meet him. When first entering the room one needed to move through a large 10 meter tall door. After that a long walk down a stone path before a person could even reach the steps. All around ancient tree's from the time of Jurai's founding sprouted and stretched high up into the endless void. The only visible ceiling was the canopy created by these silent witnesses to the emperors who have come before.

Next to him on a smaller seat was his first wife Funaho. Her ever calm visage belied her worry. His first daughter Ayeka with his second wife Misaki had been found. His other daughter Sasami through Misaki as well would be with her. 700 years of silence as they searched for Yosho had ended and in an instant was snuffed out. Even the Galaxy Police detective who had been sent to retrieve her had disappeared.

Worry over his daughter warred with his great patience. Soon enough a ship from Jurai would be sent out to investigate. He could not afford to show such concern for his daughter without more proof of her life. Weakness such as sending out an unreasonable amount of force may allow his opponents in the endless struggle between factions among Jurai to gain ground.

Under his rule the empire has prospered and now sat clearly at the head of power in the universe. But, there were always those who were not happy. Those who thought they should expand out. The Galaxy Police were an easy target. Still holding much power themselves, the tentative alliance that allowed them to build such a peaceful society could crumble at any moment. And many would jump at the chance to cause such a conflict.

"How are you feeling today dear husband?"

"Weary, the mechanizations of foolish nobles weighs heavily on my mind."

"Such is life among Jurai politics."

"Yes, and one does learn to live with it."

The great door down below groaned as it was opened. A trio of men marched in. Two were dressed all in black and they did not continue but chose to take positions next to the door. The third strode forward confidently, dressed in the mantle of a Jurai nobleman. Around his neck was a high blue collar, his shoulders were topped by pleated green fabric and the rest was unadorned and colored a plain beige.

"Were we expecting anyone?"

"If we were, I was not informed."

"Another would be assassin perhaps?"

"The alarms would have signaled if he was."

"Pity, this day has been dull." Standing he approached the top of the stairs. "The emperor of Jurai greets you, state your business, so that he might hear." His voice carried easily, enhanced as it was by several devices grown into the trees around him.

The man however dismissed proper protocol, something he would have been instructed in long before he could enter the chamber. Choosing instead to start the trek up the steps. "Perhaps he is an assassin dear."

"He does seem to be a cheeky fellow."

"I suppose I can suffer his cheek, if only because it will be the highlight of this boring day." Turning he returned to his throne. "Do you know what is to be served for dinner tonight?"

"I believe Misaki-neesan is to pick the dish tonight."

"Perhaps I should let this possible assassin have his way with me then."

"You can be so terrible sometimes."

"I know." Chuckling he smiled at his first wife. It really was too bad that she did not pick the meals all the time. He loved his second wife, he really did, but some of the meals she came up with had no place at his royal plate. (6)

Propping his head up on his fist he waited patiently for the man to crest the top of the steps before drawing his eyes to the mans face. When he did he instantly stood up, next to him Funaho let out a gasp, and he looked fearfully at the man in front of him. The man who should not, could not possibly be standing in his presence.

The dark green haired man smiled. His pale face seemingly unused to the action as he nodded his head in a bow. "It has been a long time, Father...Mother."

Looking at the young man before him, Azusa could do nothing else but whisper the word. "Kagato."

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

Just to clear up something, Washu is going to take on the role of a watcher mainly. Only when a problem that can't be cleared up by the others will she come up and deal with it. Otherwise she's there to watch the show. She's simply too powerful to have around all the time. Of course she will cause a big problem soon, and that is the dimension tuner.

At first I was planning to do it similar to Tenchi Universe but I've decided to do several small crossovers, with all the characters in their own universe. I also want to play fast and loose with them with the majority used to try and bring some comedy in.

A reviewer pointed out that I took influence from the fic "Path of Chaos: Ascension of Supremacy" (In my favorites, pretty good, but gets ridiculous with how powerful and how many crossovers are done.) but I had honestly never read it till he mentioned it. If I had I might have came up with a different name for Rin-ohki, but as it stands they are named that for two different reasons so I see no reason to change it.

As for Ranma's physical changes, the guys lucky to get off without a real tail... for now. (Evil cackle) Just like Ryoko has a fake one attached to an obi, Ranma just formed one on his battle suit. As for his ears, they look like Brianna Digger's (Later chapters). For a picture of Ranma's new look check out my forum I made a special post just for images. I wanted something like Ryoko's first off, but when the whole altercation with the neko-ken got in my head I decided that it should be cat ears. Kind of an influence from the fic "Wild Magic".

(1) I'm planning on doing a Ryoko back story chapter, since the way I have her history it is different than the standard OVA one but somewhat similar to the Universe one. It'll happen sometime or at least several flashbacks will illustrate the differences.

(2) While Mihoshi's ship may be trashed Washu hacked into it to update her database. She also wanted to read up on Ryoko's past. Since the Galaxy Police keep a very detailed report on criminals. Especially such high ranking ones like Ryoko.

(3) Ranma has shown he can induce the neko-ken if there is a cat around. Chapter 50 Kitten of the Sea, I believe it's volume 3 chapter 14. Genma of course screwed himself over by threatening Rin-ohki. In the previous chapter I hinted that Ranma can use his abilities while in the neko-ken state. BTW not for my story but I think the only reason Ranma-neko puts up with Akane is because she chucked the huge bag of catnip at him. Everybody seems to forget that he ignored her completely before that.

(4) Astute readers will remember that Ryoga tripped Washu's sensors. Not sure if I want to go somewhere with it though.

(5) Poor poor Genma.

(6) Misaki seems like the kind of person who would come up with weird things if left to her own devices.

About the travel times. I got no clue to the real time since I couldn't find a train travel timetable that gave me the needed info. Oh well it's not that important. Why you'll find out next chapter.


	11. No Need for Carnival

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

(telepathy between Washu, Ryoko, Ranma, and cabbit)

In response to anonymous who said Washu didn't use an advanced enough medical lab. Well you never see her use a medical lab in the OVA but in Universe she uses a similar bed to take care of a much more injured Yosho. And just because I didn't have her use anything more advanced doesn't mean she doesn't have it. Also her restraining device for Tenchi and mind reading device used on Ryo-ohki are all rather low tech looking in the OVA.

Another chapter that went through several complete rewrites.

**X X X X X X**

"Ok, so, what the hell just went on outside?" Nabiki asked. Her father and Genma were currently unconscious and were restrained in balls of transparent green goo. Remarkably enough they didn't stick to anything else. Another strange thing were the two logs that flanked the pair. Not only could they talk but they could actually fly about and appear at will.

"Those two idiots just screwed up. What's there to figure out?" Ryoko actually seemed pleased about this. "It's kinda fun seeing things from this side."

"What Ryoko-san is trying to say is that Washu-sama believes that these two were the cause of Ranma-san's episode outside." Ayeka said.

"So why are you listening to some little girl anyways?" Demanded Akane.

"Washu-sama is, that is to say, she is a highly intelligent scientist. And it is not advised to cross her." An image of kappafied Ayeka suddenly appeared in Ayeka's head. The princess shivered at the memory of being small green and somewhat slimy. Such a horrible prospect for a beautiful princess such as herself.

"Yea right she's like 13, 14 at the oldest." The youngest Tendo scoffed.

"Akane-san, we all agree with Ayeka's opinion on Washu-san. She is far more than she seems." The lone male of the group Tenchi spoke up. Nabiki noted the way these people, aside from the little girl, were all nervous about Washu. And judging by the things she had done outside she would be inclined to agree.

"So what do you do for fun around here." Nabiki asked, people were more likely to give out information if they were having fun at the time. This interrogation setting obviously wasn't working.

"I'll go get the cards!" Sasami announced. (1)

**X X X X X X**

The next day came quickly and Nabiki hadn't been able to get any information. It was like they had taken a vow of silence on the whole matter. And seemed to expect her to go along with it. And now her and her two sisters had been ushered into a cab and sent on their merry way. The whole situation stinked. The two fathers had royally screwed up any plans she had of getting to know the owner of that space ship and had actually raised more questions than answered.

Now sitting in some dingy cab as they started the trek back to Nerima she let her foul mood permeate the car. Thoughts of how to pay back her father for screwing everything up, what home work she needed to do for the next day, and most importantly whether or not she could pursue finding out the secrets of the Masaki home. Perhaps if she lived closer there would be no question, but crossing half of Japan just to be turned away at the door was not an effective strategy. And that is what would happen after her rude slip up last night.

'At least I don't have to worry about them going anywhere. I'll just have to work on Nodoka and try to get information from her.'

Unlike her mercenary like sister, Kasumi had enjoyed herself immensely. As before when the Masaki group visited her home, she got along great with Sasami and she had found a similar soul in the girl who enjoyed providing for people as much as she did. And when she took the long trek up to the shrine she had found Katsuhito to be pleasant company. She had even gotten a new tea recipe from him that she would have to work into her usual rotation.

"Are you alright Nabiki?" Kasumi asked as they took a cab back to the train station. She was worried about her younger sister, who seemed obsessed with finding out what the residents of the Masaki home's secret was. She didn't think it proper at all with how demanding the girl had been. Especially when they had inadvertently brought such disharmony to their home.

"I'm fine."

"Well if you say so." Pursing her lips she decided not to pry. Nabiki was in one of her foul moods and unlike Akane there was little chance that she would open up and explain why. "Did you have fun Akane?"

"Me? I guess, there wasn't much to do. But it was nice to take a trip. But I wonder if Dad will be back anytime soon though."

"I hope he stays away for a couple days. I specifically told him that he couldn't come, yet he did anyways. Stupid Daddy." Nabiki huffed and crossed her arms.

"Nabiki you really shouldn't say such things." Times like these Kasumi wished she had a bit more control of her younger sibling.

"All my plans were ruined because of him and his idiot friend."

"Plans?"

"It's nothing Akane." Nabiki snapped and went back to looking outside and occasionally growling. Shaking her head Kasumi decided to follow Nabiki's lead and watch the scenery go by.

**X X X X X X **

Once the members of the Masaki home along with Nodoka were assured that the Tendo sisters had left, the matter on what could be done about Genma was now being discussed. Around the room Washu had replicated some clipboard like devices that had a flat display giving off a chronological list of the information Mihoshi was able to retrieve from Genma.

Nodoka placed her tablet down on the table amazed at how much Mihoshi had gotten from her husband. She had never really been able to get a straight answer from him Sighing she tried to mentally digest the information she now had. The overwhelming sadness she had was limited by the uncontrollable anger for her husband and it just left her numb all over.

Genma had promised her that he would raise Ranma to be a man amongst men. Something that was expected for any male in the Saotome clan. But this, it was sheer lunacy. From the down right dangerous training methods to actually engaging him to multiple girls. Something she actually didn't find that horrible, but it was the training that Ranma could very well have been maimed or even worse from that staggered her. One maybe two could be understandable, the life of a martial artist was perilous, but it seemed like Genma had come up with something every month.

Washu sat next to her on the couch and had long since finished reading her copy. It wasn't much of a stretch for Nodoka to believe she was trying to figure out a suitable punishment for the man. She was happy that she didn't know what horrors the self proclaimed greatest scientist in the universe could come up with.

Neither Genma or Soun were in the room with them, being relegated to the main entrance. They had been assured by Washu that the only way to free someone from the restraining gel was to be dissolved by a controller. Someone able to produce a considerable amount of energy would be able to, but it would be impossible even for a body enhanced member of the Galaxy Police to break free from. Washu had actually laughed when she had brought up the idea that Genma might be able to do so. Soun had been released since he hadn't actually done anything and seemed to be genuinely sorry about what little he had.

Washu, Ayeka, and Mihoshi sat around a table while reading the information. Not so much Mihoshi who had heard it first hand. Ryoko had been uninterested and had left along with Tenchi and Sasami. Sasami they had decided, did not need to hear or learn about some of the more insane things Genma had done. Outside, floating in the lake was the sleek navy and white form of Mihoshi's shuttle. Recently fixed and partially upgraded by Washu.

"Mihoshi-dono now that you have this information what can you do about him?" Washu started the conversation.

"Um, lemme look at the book." Mihoshi grabbed the pink cube tied to her hip and started to twist and turn pieces until a large book labeled 'GP Protocols' materialized in her lap. Flipping through the pages she stopped and sat quietly for a moment. "Actually I can't do anything. Since this is one of those developing worlds. Oops, I'm sorry."

"Mihoshi-san." Ayeka started. "I believe there is something you can do. Washu-sama is a citizen of Jurai. Does that not make Ranma-san also one? If nothing else I wish to see this man punished. Does not my station allow for something?"

"I guess so, but the book says I can't do anything. I think Earth is part of Jurai's space though so the Galaxy Police shouldn't really be here." Mihoshi answered unsure on why everyone was expecting her to do something. Genma was a bad man but the rules said she shouldn't.

"But Mihoshi-san, surely the severity and numerous crimes against a citizen of Jurai, even by someone from an unincorporated world would warrant his arrest. Even for some one without any political backing such as Washu-sama." Nodoka didn't miss the way Washu's eyes instantly darkened and glared at Ayeka. She was almost taken back by how much contempt those green eyes held.

"Let me see." Once again they had to wait for the blonde to scroll through pages. "Ah ha, it says if an accused is brought to the attention of the Galaxy Police by the combined will of a citizen of the unincorporated world, a citizen of an incorporated world, and a citizen of Jurai then the Galaxy Police can intervene."

"How convenient." Nodoka noticed that Washu's smile was a little forced as she said that. She would make sure to ask the girl about what she had noticed later.

"Right. Uh I guess now that I have the needed information I can take him in for the trial. But before I go, could I, maybe, talk to Tenchi one last time?" Mihoshi finished and played with fingers.

"Of course dear." Smiling at the blonde Nodoka stood along with her but didn't leave the room. Turning to Washu she motioned for her to follow into the kitchen.

**X X X X X X**

"Psst, Tendo-kun, psst."

"Saotome-kun I'm sorry but I don't know how to get you out." Genma's eyes quickly scanned around him as he tried to figure out a way to get out of this green stuff. It was like some torture the Master would come up with, it was only hard to move if he moved quickly. But if he moved slowly it stretched with him making escape impossible. If he tried to move quickly it wouldn't keep up but he could never move enough to get out.

Years honed under the dreaded Master and further years training Ranma and regularly needing to break in or out of places after making deals that he wouldn't keep. While this situation was certainly new for the martial artist, father and expert thief. He knew that this thing had to have a limit to how far it could move. Realization hit him like an angry Ranma.

Something he dreaded almost as much as the Master, almost as much as Ranma-neko. He debated a moment on which was worse. The Master would beat him till he stopped resisting, while Ranma-neko would shred him without mercy till distracted. Probably the only reason he still lived was that Ranma-neko was distracted by pretty much anything.

"Tendo-kun, could you get me some cold water?"

"I'd be happy to my old friend." Licking his lips in anticipation of getting free or at least confusing that little red head until she let him free thinking he was a panda. He didn't have to wait long for his friend to return with the water. "Oops forgot you can't use your arms."

"That's ok Tendo-kun, I want you to pour it on me."

"What why?"

"Because if I turn into a panda I might be able to get out, or that little girl with the key to this might let me out." He whispered trying not to let anyone hear his master plan in the room next door.

"You're brilliant Saotome-kun! Here." One splash later and a panda the added girth and size popped the green thing like a balloon spraying the green goo everywhere.

#I'm out of here# flip #You coming?#

"Just like the old days eh Saotome-kun?"

#Right right Tendo-kun!#

With that the pair were off running for the hills both literally and figuratively. Screw the boy, he could come back for him later, preferably when that red headed witch and his wife weren't around. He'd been doing this for years while on the road with Ranma, this wasn't any different.

**X X X X X X**

Tenchi would have preferred to stay in the room with everyone else and find out what Genma had done to Ranma. But as it was he was chosen to make sure Sasami stayed out of any details. The girl was after all young, at least mentally, and they had assumed Genma had done some disturbing things to his adopted son.

Unfortunately Ryoko had followed them to his room, where they were looking through an old photo album he had. Ryo-ohki was also looking on from her place in Sasami's lap as they sat on his bed and thumbed through the large book. Occasionally he had to chide Ryoko who would start digging through his things. But other than that she was behaving and occasionally took notice when Sasami said something about a picture.

A knock at the door drew him to the door. Opening it he found a nervous Mihoshi. "Hi Mihoshi, is something wrong?"

"Um Tenchi-san, I just, I wanted to thank you, for, you know, letting me stay."

"You don't have to thank me. It was nice having your here." Smiling he noticed that Mihoshi was starting to tear up. "Are you alright?"

"I guess this means...goodbye." The girl started to wail in earnest and hugged him.

"Easy, easy. You don't have to say goodbye, you can come by and stay any time you like."

Mihoshi sniffled before a smile spread across her face. "You mean it?" He nodded and was enveloped in another hug. 'Why do I get the feeling this will come back to bite me?'

**X X X X X X**

Patience was something Washu had learned a long, long, long, time ago. She in fact had an almost endless patience, though that had been tested by her long stay in her crystalline prison. A future discussion with Ayeka would be about getting such a prison sentence removed from use. Even for someone like her it had been near unbearable and any lesser being would have become an insane monster. At the very least a criminal should not be allowed to be awake at all during it. 'Pfeh and they said I'm a monster.'

Turning to a door sliding open she looked curiously at Mihoshi who was wringing her hands in worry. "Um, it seems the bad man escaped."

"WHAT!?" Washu yelled and quickly ran out to the main entrance.

"What the hell!? How in the world did he get out?" Washu growled and examined the remains of the restraining gel that was splattered everywhere. Nothing short of doubling a persons physical size could have allowed a person to free themselves from the commonly used restraining device. That's how it was designed, the harder one tried to get out, the harder it became. To actually cause one to explode was unheard of and any shapeshifter's ability would be neutralized meaning even Ryo-ohki could not break from it by turning into her ship form.

Her sharp green eyes looked around for anything that could clue her in to how it happened. There on the ground was a glass with a few remnants of water within it. "Nodoka-dono, does Genma have a curse?" Jusenkyo ignored the requirements for creating and destroying mass after all and was not something known by the Galaxy Police.

"Yes, he turns into a panda, why?"

"Because it looks like the panda got away." Frowning she considered getting dressed up in safari clothes and hunting the man down. No doubt he had yet to get far enough for her sensors to find them, since they would have to travel several hundred kilometers away from the home to do so. Taking into account what she knew of the man it was safe to assume that he would make another attempt to retrieve Ranma.

"Well I guess that's that."

"You don't seem that upset that my husband has gotten away." Turning to Nodoka, she smiled evilly.

"He's predictable, I'll have something waiting for him the next time he returns." Rubbing her hands together in anticipation she also wondered what kind of experiments she could conduct that wouldn't get the Galaxy Police in an uproar. Maybe some with the Jusenkyo curse that she was wary of conducting on Ranma. If Genma degraded into nothing, who would complain?

"Does this mean I don't have to leave?" Mihoshi asked.

"Well you don't have to, but I am sure you should at least report in about Ayeka-dono and Sasami-chan. You are a detective after all."

"Oh that's right, I forgot about why I was here. I was supposed to pick them up and bring them home." Sighing Washu grabbed a remote from her pocket to dissolve the gel. 'Whenever Mihoshi is involved it takes time, in this case a couple weeks.'

"I'm sorry that I can't stay around and enjoy your company Nodoka-dono but I am tremendously busy with getting my lab back up and running. So if you'll excuse me."

"Oh of course Washu-chan, I wouldn't want to get in your way."

Once safely back inside her lab, this time she had made sure it would be impossible to force open from the outside. Not that the Galaxy Police had needed to, that pathetic worm Dr. Clay had given them clearance to come and go as they pleased. That mistake she would not be repeating, other than Ryoko and Ranma no one else would have free access to her lab. Well she supposed she could throw in Sasami, and Tenchi could visit her anytime, and Nodoka was nice to talk to, and Katsuhito had something he was hiding. 'Oh hell I'll just give these people clearance and no one else.'

'Maybe now that Ranma wasn't causing distractions she could get back to work. What to do first though? Oh I know, the dimensional tuner!' Whistling happily she nearly skipped to her destination. She had begun work on the machine before starting work on the gems and hadn't finished it. Well she would have to rectify that right away.

**X X X X X X**

Ayeka shuffled nervously as she actually stood inside of Tenchi's room. She had never actually been inside of it before. And now here she stood alone with her nephew. The first thing she noticed was that it had a nice view overlooking the lake. With how the house was twisted the one she shared with Sasami had an obstructed view from the side of the house.

Her left eye developed a twitch as she noticed several posters on the walls depicted scantily clad women. She would have to, remove, those later. The only woman Tenchi should be looking at is her. Along one wall was Tenchi's desk, including many text books that she assumed were from his Earthly education. Next to the door was a closet and the rest of the room was mostly barren.

"Tenchi-sama, I brought you a copy of what Mihoshi-san found out from Ranma-san adopted father."

"Oh thanks Ayeka." Handing him one of the tablets she tried to make it so he would unwittingly grab her hand like in one of those manuals but he was able to take it without.

"You're welcome Tenchi-sama. Oh and I was curious, but why has your father not been home?"

"Oh right I forgot to tell everyone. He's going to stay with a friend of the family in the city so he doesn't have to commute so far to work everyday." What Tenchi left off was the man was getting out of the way so Tenchi could start having his way with the lovely young women.

"Oh dear, I hope our presence here wasn't the cause of his relocation." Raising a hand to her mouth in worry she considered the possibility. What would her Mother think if she found out how they had kicked someone so gracious from their home.

"I wouldn't worry about that. I think he and Rea-san have a thing going anyways."

"Rea-san? I don't think I have met her yet."

"I don't suppose you would have. She lives in the city, though I think she said she would stop by sometime to help with the move. Uh is there anything else you need? I got a lot of homework to do for tomorrow and I've put it off as long as I can."

"Oh of course Tenchi-sama. But if you would like some help, I was tutored by the best Jurai had to offer." This would be a great opportunity for her to spend time with Tenchi as well as to impress upon the man what Jurai had to offer. Tenchi was after all a prince.

"No that's alright, I really should do it on my own."

"Alright, but if you need any assistance please do not hesitate to ask." Bowing she left him to his work.

**X X X X X X**

The next day...

"Oh man, did anyone get the number of that truck?" Sitting up Ranma rubbed at his eyes. Whatever had happened left him with the vague feeling of his brain being smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a solid gold brick. Rin-ohki was instantly sending a few questioning sensations through their link, he even noticed that she was sending out more actual words. "I'm ok Rin, I just don't remember anything after talking with the old man."

Stretching to get the kinks out he noted that there were surprisingly few of them. Not even the usual aches and pains that he had. Dismissing it he examined the room he was now in. 'Washu's medical place? How did I get here?' Scratching Rin-ohki behind the ear, he slipped from the hospital bed that was floating in air. Just a simple white room with a window exposing the same fake view that he had seen in the room Shampoo was in.

"What the hell am I wearing?!" Patting himself he pulled and stretched the skin tight body suit he now wore. Just flat black material that covered him from the mid neck to his feet. Rubbing his fingers together he found that he could still feel normally and the suit didn't shift unless it was pulled away from the body. Grabbing the neck he tried to pull it away so he could take it off but found it didn't stretch enough. "Who put this stupid thing on me?!" Pulling harder rewarded him with no further stretch so he let the material snap back into place.

"And how's my favorite guinea pig today?" Eeping he did something unexpected from Washu's sudden entrance. That is he flew up and smacked into the ceiling before falling back to land face first on the floor. Groaning he rubbed his face and got into a kneeling position.

"Oh man I wasn't expecting to go that high."

"You may want to be careful until you have a better handle on what you can and can't do. Have a seat." Grumbling but complying he got up and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Now tell me what you remember."

"Last thing I remember was Oyaji taken me off to talk about something. Wait no then there was a cat. He put me in the neko-ken that bastard!"

"We figured as much, Mihoshi-dono questioned him yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"You've been out for approximately 40 hours. I spent most of yesterday repairing Mihoshi-dono's shuttle and of course I fixed it. Even made a few minor improvements to it's design. Mihoshi-dono got most of your life story from him. Even some things that you didn't tell me when I asked _politely_." Briefly he wondered whether or not he could find his way out of the lab before Washu did something.

"You'll pay for it later." She wagged a finger at him. "Bend down." Ducking his head down he found his head grabbed by Washu who started to feel around his ears.

"Um, what are you doing?" His eyes widened when he felt an ear actually move. "What the hell is going on!?" Pulling away he brought up his hands to feel his ears. They felt far larger than they should be and were shaped funny.

"Calm down, your cat personality was just able to do some interesting things."

"I didn't hurt anybody did I?" After cats that was his greatest fear. Losing control and hurting someone. Well hurting Genma was fun and the couple times he had woken up to find Genma shredded had actually been kinda nice. In a way, therapeutic.

"Ah yes I forgot that you don't remember what you do while in that state. Shortly after you, went cat, your form reverted. Genma spilled the detail that your abilities were actually unlocked when you were like that since you were 6. And since you were so close to having it happen anyways it must have accelerated the process even further. My you're just full of surprises. If you keep this up I'll have to get you a shirt saying '#1 Guinea Pig'."

"That's great and all but, WHAT ABOUT MY EARS!?"

"There's a mirror in the bathroom." Dashing into the small room he found the mirror and quickly inspected his ears. His new large triangular cat ears.

"Ca ca ca ca cat ears?" Blinking he found that his eyes had also changed. No longer the solid blue he was used to they were now a darker shade of blue that mixed into a gold color around his pupils. And even those had changed becoming pointed at the top and bottom like a cats. (2)

Turning quickly to Washu who was observing him in the doorway. "What happened? Why am I like this?"

"Minor matter manipulation is one of your abilities. As with your body being in a state of flux at the time and your cat personality in control, I'm honestly surprised that was the extent to your physical changes. Though the tail is an interesting touch."

"What are you talking about tail?" Pausing he turned around when he noticed that he could feel something moving. What he found was that he now had a long black tail that was currently lashing back and forth angrily. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Tugging on it as hard as he could, he twisted around several times before losing his balance and falling on his back.

"Oh calm down, it's a fake tail anyways. Ryoko uses one too." Washu was trying to reign in her giggles as Rin-ohki on the floor smiling blissfully at him.

"Stop laughing and get this stupid thing off of me!" Standing up he glared at the small girl.

"All you have to do is will the battle suit away."

"That's it?"

"That's it." Frowning he thought about getting rid of the thing. There was a slight tingling and then it was off of him. "Hey it worked!" Stopping he noticed that Washu was walking around him and making 'hmm'ing' noises. "Uh Washu?"

"Good muscle mass but not overly bulky, more for speed than power, proper muscle tone and symmetry, everything looks as it should, so you should have no problem using visual psychological warfare."

"What's visual psychological warfare?"

"Erotic warfare."

"What!?"

"And to think my important work was almost destroyed by that human. I'll definitely be testing out various techniques to remove a Jusenkyo curse on him."

"Hold it, hold it, I'm not a pervert."

"Of course, of course." Growling he turned back to stare into the mirror. It wasn't exactly a stranger that stared back but well it could have been a lot worse. At least he didn't look like Ryoko. Too bad he looked like a damn cat though.

"Why am I not freaking out?"

"Miyah!" The cabbit announced, angry over being ignored.

"Rin-ohki is probably helping calm you down."

Focusing on the link for a moment he found that it was sort of muted, like the volume had been turned down. "I can't feel her as much as I did yesterday, what happened?" That was a double edged sword, he liked the cabbit, but he had been overwhelmed with how much emotion she could send his way.

"Questions questions questions, oh my little Ranma-chan is taking after his mother."

"Yea right." He snorted.

"You need to learn to relax, you'll get gray hairs before you hit 200 at this rate. Simple answer is that your mind can handle all the information so while it seems less it is in reality a bit more." Nodding he pulled at his new hair. It was slightly more springy than before and was a dark red color, a shade or two darker than Nodoka's.

Washu's hand appeared in front of his face holding some white band. "Here put this on."

"What is it?" Taking the thing it looked like some weaved material that glinted like metal. "I don't wear jewelry."

"You tie your hair back with it, and it will help regulate how much energy you can output till you are better able to use your abilities. It should stop little accidents like you jumping into the ceiling." Looking at it doubtfully he shrugged before reaching back to tie his hair in a ponytail at the base of his skull. He needed something as it was and this would work till he could get something better.

"What happened to the string I had before?" The dragon whisker was pretty valuable, he didn't need it and selling it might get him a lot of money.

"Burned away just like everything else you were wearing. It's the reason I'm giving you something to stop that from happening. Especially if you are able to retrieve a gem from Tenchi, you could end up hurting those around you. Unlike Ryoko you haven't always been exposed to their power or even your own. I was a little afraid that you were going to burn out like a candle the other night."

"You're pullin my leg." Washu shook her head. "Oh come on I wouldn't let that happen."

"Spare me your bravado, the other day you nearly set fire to the house. Though you did destroy a large portion of grass and a lot of trees."

"I did?"

"Yup, I got to meet Katsuhito-dono and he wasn't happy about the damage." Wincing at the mention of the priest. "He said it was lucky that it should grow back. But you'll have to reside the house."

"Urk."

"He also said that with Tenchi gone back to school during the week you'll have to take on his duties as well."

"This sucks! And how is something like this going to stop that from happening again?"

"It's fine that you don't understand the mechanics, all you need to know is that it works. I mean I haven't exactly tried to explain subspace mechanics to you, yet here you are in my subspace lab."

"Can you get rid of these things?" Grabbing his ears for emphasis.

"No way those are way too cute to get rid of!" Washu's eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands under her chin. Breaking from her display she coughed into a hand. "What I meant to say was that I don't really see any need to do so. If a problem arises because of it I'll think about it but till then no deal."

"Well that's just great, I look like a freaking cat."

"Use the cold water tap, I want to see how your female form was affected."

"No way, I've spent way too much time as a girl lately. If I can I'm staying a guy."

"Fine, there are some clothes that you can put on out in the room. Although the free show would be more interesting if I wasn't your mom."

"Free show?" Looking down he found that he was actually naked. "ACK!" Desperately trying to cover himself Washu just laughed at him before leaving. Calming down from his full body blush he peeked out the doorway to find Washu gone. Turning back to Rin-ohki he found that she actually was doing a cabbit version of a smirk.

"Do I look a lot like a cat?" His response was a happy miyah and the cabbit jumping up to sit on his head. "I swear Oyaji is going to pay for this." Inspecting the new clothing he found them to be like the ones Washu wore. Only instead of shorts they had long pleated black pants. Quickly pulling on the black clothing he took a moment to stretch and test it's mobility. Finding nothing getting in the way he headed off to leave the lab.

**X X X X X X**

In orbit around Jupiter sat Mihoshi's red patrol ship, the Yagami, sat where Mihoshi had left it. In her shuttle Yukinojo was taking care of the piloting as the shuttle docked with the much larger vessel by landing in it's compartment mid ship. Stretching Mihoshi let off a loud yawn as Yukinojo blared an alarm to wake her up.

"Are we there already?" She whined.

"Yes Mihoshi-dono. Would you like for me to open a channel to headquarters on the super interspace hotline??"

"I guess." A large black screen was brought up in front of the robotic head of Yukinojo, an hourglass displayed in the middle had sand dripping down to the bottom as she waited.

A smile started to spread across her face. 'Tenchi said I can come back anytime I like.' Giggling she started to fantasize about him and her fighting crime on Earth. Ryoko bound and tied as they celebrated bringing in such a wanted criminal. Her face fell whens he realized that he was Jurai royalty and they would never join the GP.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Wincing she looked up to see Captain Nobeyama's angry face glaring at her.

"I was on Earth with Tenchi." Angry Captain forgotten she went right back to day dreaming about Tenchi. Maybe she could include Ranma too, he was nice as well.

"Earth? Tenchi? What is Earth? Are you talking about the planet Ayeka-samas distress signal was sent out from? And who is Tenchi? Where is Ayeka-sama? Why have you not rescued the princesses!?"

"Oh they are on Earth too." Standing up from her chair she saluted. "This is First Class Detective Mihoshi hereby requested transfer to patrol this special area of the solar system."

"You, you what? But you can't! Your Grandfa, I mean the Marshall is looking forward to seeing you again! You can't just."

"I'm not a child, don't worry about my Grandfather."

Nobeyama was now wiping at his brow with a towel. "Is there any way to make you reconsider? Besides, that is Jurai's territory. We can't go their without their permission."

"Oh goodie! Cause I have permission!"

"You what?!"

Clasping her hands together at the thought of Tenchi. "He said he wanted me to come back."

"Who did?"

"Tenchi did, he said I could come back to him." Blushing furiously she shook her head. "How embarrassing! Oh Chief, don't make me say this!" Now happily bouncing around the room she was oblivious to Nobeyama's image turning to speak with Yukinojo.

"Who is Tenchi?"

"He's related to the Jurai royal family. My data on the subject is incomplete but he appears to be a descendant of crown prince Yosho."

Turning back to Mihoshi, Nobeyama started screaming to get her attention. "Mihoshi what is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh I'm sorry, my report is finished now." Saluting again."This is Detective First Class Mihoshi signing off."

"Mihoshi! Wait! Stop!" The screen blipped out.

"Let's go back to Earth Yukinojo!"

"Yes Mihoshi-dono." The kindly robot said and started the return course to Earth.

**X X X X X X**

Back in his office Nobeyama was still yelling at his screen for a moment longer before collapsing back into his chair. Rubbing his forehead he wondered how this could get any worse. Orders from the very top had come down recently concerning the missing members of the Masaki family. Sighing he picked up the two reports Mihoshi had sent his way. One was Mihoshi's report on how she had spent her time since the last check in. The other was labeled 'Bad Bad Panda Man' with a crude drawing of a half panda half man thing that was bound and gagged.

Picking up the formal, or as formal as Mihoshi got, report he started to read. As usual, Mihoshi wrote down way too much information and now he would be stuck in his office reading through it before he could hand a modified version to his superiors. The woes of being a double agent for Jurai Intelligence.

**X X X X X X**

Nodoka was out enjoying the afternoon with Sasami. Even at such a young age the girl was very mature and was perfectly at home in doing the household chores. And at the Masaki home they were actual chores. They were currently walking back from the nearby town. She winced at the memory of the poor boy Seina who's family owned the store. Such a nice boy, it was too bad he was plagued by such horrible luck. Though it did make shopping easier when the other customers had run away.

"Sasami-chan what do your parents do?" Of course she remembered that Sasami was a princess. But Ranma had been vague with his description and it couldn't hurt to ask.

"They're the rulers of Jurai. Isn't that right Ryo-chan?"

"Miyah!"

"What's Jurai like?"

"Hmm, it's a lot like Earth, but it has perfect weather all the time, and the trees are much bigger. Actually everything is made from trees and with nature."

"Do you have cities?"

"Oh yes, but on Jurai it's the capital so it's mostly kept just for the royal family. The only cities there are the ones around the space ports. A lot of other planets have big cities, even a couple that are nothing but cities."

"Your family has the entire planet for itself?"

"Not all of it, there are a lot of other nobility that live there but it's mostly for the four royal houses."

"Four?"

"Uh huh, Masaki, Tatsuki, Amaki, and Kamiki."

"Do you all have big families?"

"No, most families are small. We have really long lives so most only have a few children. Except for Grandmother Kamiki, she likes to adopt and has many children. She's also fond of throwing a small pebble into a quiet pond to watch the ripples." Sasami giggled at a private joke, but Nodoka understood the meaning.

"Oh? You're very smart to come up with a difficult analogy like that Sasami-chan." The blue haired girls smile grew even bigger.

"Excuse me! Watch out!" Turning they found Seina flying by them on his bicycle. The handlebars no longer attached. Stepping out of the way they watched him pass. "I'm really really sorry!"

"Do you think he'll be alright?" She turned to Sasami.

"I think he's used to it by now." Unfortunately the bottom of their plastic bags chose that moment to give way. (3)

**X X X X X X**

Stepping out of Washu's lab Ranma quickly made his way to the kitchen. He was hungry and he needed food, as in right now. Grabbing several dishes from the fridge he piled as much as he could fit on a plate and still fit inside the microwave. Remembering to put some plastic wrap over top he put it on the microwave and set it for a couple minutes. No way was he going to turn into a kitchen destroyer like Ryoko and Ayeka.

Not being the most patient person in the world he grabbed one of the cereal bars Nobuyuki loved to eat before commuting to work in the morning. Also grabbing a carrot he handed it to Rin-ohki. Each finished quickly and he ended up sitting down on the counter and drumming his fingers. The soft displacement of air marking Ryoko's entrance made him glance behind to see the girl lounging in mid air. A large smirk spread over her face as she slowly looked him up and down.

"So sleeping beauty wakes."

"Too bad all the sleep in the world won't help your old mummy wrinkles." His own mouth turned into a smirk when Ryoko's faltered for a moment. "So how do you do it? How do you fly?" He continued trying to be sly. How could someone not want the ability to fly? He had been attempting to do so for years while training but had only ever been able to jump and stretch out the time in the air.

"First you insult me, and now you want me to tell you how to do this?" The space pirate started to do lazy circles around him.

"No way! It was you who started it."

"Just this once I'll take pity on my poor little brother slash sister. It's simple, you just do it."

"What?"

"Silly little boy or girl." Ryoko tsked and wagged a finger. "I'm not going to hold your hand, if you want that, better run back to mommy!" Cackling to herself Ryoko floated away and through the wall into the living room.

"Just you wait! In a week I'll have everything figured out and I'll be the one flying circles around you!" Snorting he would have attempted to fly after her just to show he could do it, except the timer went off. "Ooh food!"

Five minutes later, Ranma had just started on his second plate. Years spent on the road had gotten him in the habit of eating food whenever it was available. With a glutton like Genma around, you never really could know when your next meal would be. Living in a secure place like Tenchi's house, where the worst he had to deal with was Ryoko taking more than her share, had allowed him to slowly, ever so slowly, get out of the habit.

He paused mid bite as he heard the outside door open and Sasami's voice call out her arrival. Sasami with Ryo-ohki riding on her head and Nodoka soon entered the kitchen carrying several plastic bags. "Ranma-niichan you're up!" The girl announced and gave him a large smile. On her head Ryo-ohki also greeted him and Rin-ohki gave her own back.

"Yea I'm up. Anything interesting happen while I was, taking a break?"

"Seina-niichan crashed his bike again."

"Who?"

"He's a nice boy who's family owns the convenience store in town Ranma." Nodoka answered and set about unpacking their bags. Which strangely enough where tied at the bottom in a knot.

"Oh, uh thanks." Looking down and shuffling his feet. 'Well this is uncomfortable, what am I supposed to call her?'

"How are you feeling Ranma?" Nodoka asked, shoving several cans into a cupboard.

"Pretty good actually, some things, not so much." He would have reached up to tug at an ear but he was making it a point to just ignore them. Momentarily he wondered how he could hide them without looking like an idiot but quickly dismissed the idea since their position dictated anything that could would be stupid looking. A hat would be too large and a bandanna would just look stupid. He didn't want to look like Ryoga, bleh. Next thing he knew he would be getting lost somewhere.

"That's good, are you hungry? Me and Sasami-chan were about to start dinner."

In response his stomach made it's presence known. "Um does that count as an answer?" Sasami giggled while Nodoka just smiled at him. Neither seemed to have noticed that he had eaten a fair portion of the leftovers in the fridge. Ryoko faded into view next to him, obviously intent on finding out what new food she could steal.

Not one to do much work in the kitchen he stepped back and let the female of the species handle putting away the food. Standing out of the way he considered the new abilities he was supposed to have. Flight was the most obvious, especially with Ryoko hovering within his field of view. The girl was sitting cross legged in mid air looking bored. But would perk up whenever he thought she saw something she liked. Which brought him back to what she had said a few minutes ago about simply making yourself fly or float.

'Just make yourself eh?' Taking a deep breath he mentally commanded himself to do just that. And he was rewarded with his feet starting to lift slowly off the ground. Smiling deliriously he lost his concentration and fell back to the ground. Trying again he brought his feet up to sit cross legged in mid air to smirk at Ryoko. 'Ha! Anything you can do, I can do better!'

Ryoko seemed to falter a bit in mid air but she recovered quickly, she then smirked and floated over to a wall before partially going through it. Never one to be outdone Ranma did likewise and went over to a different wall and tried to do the same by willing himself to go through it. And he was rewarded by sinking into the wall. Shivering a bit at the sensation of feeling something actually go through him he quickly forced himself out of it to simply hover against the wall. 'Feels like when a hand or foot goes asleep.'

With Nodoka's help Sasami quickly finished putting everything away and then helped corral Ryoko back out of the kitchen so Sasami could get started. Nodoka motioned for him to follow out towards the entryway. Obediently he did, dropping back to the floor to walk. Flight was nice but he could already feel it taxing on his stamina. He didn't have to walk far as Nodoka sat down on a step motioning for him to do the same. Sitting down on the step next to her, Rin-ohki hopped down from his shoulder to sit in his lap to take a nap. He sucked at these kinds of situations so he tried to find something interesting about the front door. Nodoka had no such aversion and smiled sadly at him before stroking the back of his head several times.

"You know that I'm not your real mother right?" He nodded. "Are you." She paused. "Are you mad at me?"

"No." He said softly and bunched up some fabric on his pants. "I am at Genma, but that's for other reasons."

"That Mihoshi girl found out a lot of things from him the other day. I don't know how she got so much out of him. I've never been able to get a straight answer from him before. Even at our wedding he was difficult." (3)

"Where is he anyways? I would like to, talk to him." A vision of a black and blue panda caused him to smile.

"He ran away shortly after Mihoshi relayed what she had found out to us. Some of the things he did to you."

"Not that I agree with everything the old panda did but he wasn't that bad. Well some of the stuff yea."

"Don't defend him Ranma."

"But mom, he never really did any of that stuff to hurt me. Ya know it was for the art and all that stuff."

"Ranma, you don't think that growing up with him that way was normal, do you?"

"I never really thought about it." Shrugging he was surprised when Nodoka's arm laid across his shoulder and she pulled him into an embrace.

"No Ranma that is not how most people are raised at all." Shrugging his shoulders at the uncomfortable closeness he tried to edge away from the woman.

"Ah come on mom it wasn't that bad. I mean, yea he's a big idiot but."

"He engaged you to multiple women." Nodoka butted in.

"What?"

"He used your name in place of his own to run out on bills."

"He what?"

"He made you go through the neko-ken so that you would forget me."

"He..did..what?"

"And he's the reason why you changed like this isn't he?" Trying not to growl, he nodded his head as Nodoka raised a hand to touch an ear. Flinching at the contact he edged away again. "I must say nothing that has changed detracts from your manly looks. You do seem a tad shorter though."

"Shorter? Oh man just what I need." Pouting he hoped that no one else would notice. He already had enough of a problem with his girl side being a midget, he didn't need to be short as a guy as well.

"I didn't say by how much, it may just be my imagination. Besides one does not need to be a giant to be manly."

"Uh mom, why are you so, ya know, all about me being manly?" Vowing to turn Genma into a pretzel, a panda rug, or even a nice fur coat the next time he saw him, his mind moved on to the large quirk that his mother had.

"Oh, has Genma never told you about the Saotome family?"

"Nah he never talked about any family, even you." Oh yes he had forgotten that he owed Genma back for that as well.

"Another thing to add to his idiocy. But, it is a tradition that goes back to the Sengoku period, about 500 years ago. Back to the founding of both his clan, mine, and a third that ended some time ago. When I was young my mother would often tell me the tale as a bed time story. As it goes there were three children born to a priestess and a great warrior. Both of the parents valued honor, strength, and self sacrifice. The priestess gave her life giving birth to the third child, their father now alone, doted over the three day and night, refusing to leave them.

"His first, taking after his father the most, was raised to be a great warrior and he would start his own family, the Saotomes."

"His middle child, being neither physically or spiritually gifted, and as is the case of many middle children, ended up becoming neither a warrior like his father or a priest like his mother. He would later found the family Tokusei."

"The youngest was gifted with great spiritual powers and grew to become a priest. And he is my ancestor, the starter of the Miyake family. All three children while having different paths grew up learning that they should hold their honor in high esteem, that they should excel in everything they did, and to put the needs of others in front of themselves."

"Um mom, I gotta ask. Why is, Genma, so." Pausing he tried to think of a good word but come up with anything. "Not like that?"

Nodoka sighed and pursed her lips. "That is a bit harder to explain, when I first met Genma he was training under his own master. Who was thankfully not a Saotome." The womans voice took on a very hard edge at that last part. "I'm not sure what drew him to me, well I shouldn't be so bold as to say, but I was quite the looker when I was younger. Washu definitely made it so you would take after whoever you bonded with. I was really surprised that first time I saw you, dressed up as you were."

"Ah heh heh, that was the old mans idea, I think he likes the idea of having my girl form around to look at." Scratching the back of his head he did mutter darkly. "Stupid old pervert."

"While I don't think it is all that proper normally, I suppose that your situation is unique compared to an average boys. So certain, concessions, can be made."

"Yea well I'd rather not have to deal with it at all."

"Would you rather be a panda?"

"Hell no!" At Nodoka's stern look he looked down at the napping Rin-ohki embarrassed. "Sorry."

"That however is something you should not be doing regardless of form. But back then Genma while training under a dreadful man began his attempts to court me. It was, laughable at first but I soon saw something in him that made me return his attention. My family was not pleased with me when I informed them that I would marry him. You see, our two families had been at odds since their founding. Nothing like a blood feud, but at the time of their founding there was a dispute and they had chosen to go their separate ways."

"It did not help matters that by being a student under that horrible man Happosai that Genma had gotten a poor reputation. So when they heard, my parents told me I wasn't welcome home so long as I had the name Saotome."

"They threw you out?"

"I make it sound worse than it is, it is more an image issue. They have no wish to be associated with Genma or his family. I don't know if I could divorce Genma, I still love him even after all he's done. But I know that if I asked they would be happy to see me again."

"Well that's good."

"Enough about family politics and ancient history, you haven't introduced me to this one yet." Nodoka's hands came over and gathered up the unresisting cabbit as she was moved to a new lap. Not that Rin-ohki cared, so long as she had someone to pet her.

"She's Rin-ohki, Ryo-ohki's sister."

"They certainly have a family resemblance don't they. At first I thought she was Ryo-ohki but she's smaller and more red."

"Washu said she's my partner. It's kinda weird, I can talk to her just by thinkin about it."

"Really? Is she saying anything now?"

"Not really, she just feels really happy that she's getting petted." He was a bit jealous, Rin-ohki only needed food and someone to hold her, and if those two conditions were met she was happy. And unlike him someone would usually provide for her while he had to go out and get what he wanted.

"Such interesting little creatures." Nodoka was happily scratching the cabbit behind her ear, causing a loud purr. He would have been running for the hills, if it didn't sound to him like she was saying. 'feeeeeeels sooooooo goooooooood.'

Just for a moment he wondered what it would feel like if someone scratched behind his ears. This thought was quickly squashed, boxed up, wrapped in ropes, wards put over top, prayers said, rituals performed, and thrown into the deepest darkest pit of his mind next to the roped off section labeled 'neko-ken.'

"Ranma, I know that you like it here, and that your real mother is here as well. But how would you like to visit my family? Even though I am still with Genma in some way, I would like to try and make amends with my parents."

"I don't know mom, I mean Washu told me that Katsuhito had a lot of work for me to do since Tenchi is going to school again."

"Oh, yes I forget." Ranma's brow furrowed a bit from Nodoka's tone. He'd heard it enough when he was expecting someone to call him a freak for his curse. It was resigned and sad, knowing that you don't quite measure up because of something beyond your control.

"I could ask I guess." He really didn't want to let Nodoka down, in some weird way she was his mom, even if not by blood. "But he's kind of a slave driver who's gonna have me working my tail off." He winced at the mention of a tail.

"That's all I could ask for. It wouldn't be like going back to Nerima, my family is around Okayama. I think they would like you, especially if they hear you've taken up the family tradition of working at shrines. But I can't accept that you aren't getting an education. I'll have to ask Washu-chan if she could setup something for you."

"School? I don't really need school, and why Washu?"

"Well I figure with all the amazing things she can do, what could an Earth school teach over her?"

Blinking he tried to find some flaw with that. Far as he knew no one on Earth could do half the things Washu had done in the short time he'd known her. "Uh yeah I guess you're right about that."

"Auntie, I'm about to start dinner!" Sasami called out standing at the kitchen door in a carrot themed apron.

"Be right there Sasami-chan." Nodoka called back and gave back Rin-ohki to him. The change in position not concerning the cabbit enough to cause her to wake. "How about you go talk with Katsuhito and find out what's expected of you now that Tenchi is gone most of the day. Dinner should be ready when you get back."

"Uh right." Nodding he stood up to go grab a jacket from his room.

**X X X X X X**

Busying herself with chopping vegetables Nodoka tried to keep her spirits up. Any moment with Ranma was wonderful and in a way precious to her. And by just wanting to be with him she had brought problems into his life. Ranma would get along fine if not better than if she had never come back into his life. It was her after all that had him return to Nerima to deal with a worthless engagement. It was her that allowed Genma to find out where he was once again.

Wincing as she chopped down on the last bit of carrot, the blade caught the side of her finger. Quickly moving to the sink she started to wash off the small amount of blood that was seeping out. It wasn't a deep cut but it was about two centimeters long.

"Auntie are you alright?" Sasami asked from next to the stove.

"I'm fine dear, I just cut myself a little."

"I'll go get you a band aid." The girl quickly left, pulling her hand out of the water she dried it off on a piece of paper towel before inspecting it. It had already stopped bleeding and in less than a day would be gone. Sasami returned quickly and gave her the bandage. "Here you go."

"Thank you dear."

Putting it on, she quickly went back to cutting as if nothing had happened. Even after hundreds of years, the small amount of yokai blood in her, was still potent. Causing small wounds to heal quickly and her to age slower. Genma didn't seem to know of his heritage and it also didn't seem particularly strong in him. Though that could be explained by the Saotome family being constantly involved in wars and conflicts. To keep the family strong and large enough for that lifestyle would require that they have children as early and often as possible.

Making amends with her family would be for the best. Unlike the Saotomes, they would accept Ranma. The Saotomes were incredibly xenophobic, which was saying something in Japan, demanding that family members adhere to a strict discipline. Even just the change in Ranma's appearance would end any chance for him to be part of that group. If Genma was any example, the Saotomes had spent a long time burying their heritage, possibly actively breeding it out. Sure Ranma was adopted but he still needed family.

Sighing she finished cutting and slid the pieces into a frying pan. "Auntie are you alright?" Sasami asked, looking to the girl she found both her and Ryo-ohki looking at her with big concerned eyes. 'Such a sweetheart.'

"I'm alright dear, but can I ask you something?" The little girl nodded. "You all look human, and, Ranma doesn't anymore. I was wondering if that would be a problem if he went into space? Like will he have problems because of it?"

The girl pouted for a moment and looked deep in thought. "Um, I don't think so. But maybe on some planets. You'd really have to ask Ayeka-neechan or Washu-neechan though, they'd know more about it than me."

"I see, thank you dear." Smiling she picked up the pan and moved next to Sasami at the oven. 'Maybe I'm just worrying over nothing.'

**X X X X X X**

Trudging up the steps, he had tried to fly all the way, but had found that not even a quarter of the way up he had to quit because he simply didn't have the energy to continue. Rubbing his arms he tried to keep himself warm, he'd never been that good in cold and now he seemed even worse. In the brown jacket Tenchi had lent him Rin-ohki peeked her head out and was watching everything curiously. Every so often something would catch her eye and he would have to explain what something was.

Reaching the top of the steps he caught a momentary glimpse of Ryoko hovering through the trees far up above the main shrine building. 'Wonder what she's doing up there.' Having no reason to really hurry and talk with the old man he headed over to start up the path. Moving through a thick bamboo field he paused at the edge. In a large clearing was a huge rock outcropping with a cave underneath an overhang. 'This must be the cave Ryoko was sealed in.'

Standing in the clearing a short distance from the mouth of the cave was Ryoko. Like him she seemed to dislike the cold as well, and was now wearing a thick green overcoat with a pink band running along the edges. An evil smile spread over his face thinking of how to get her back for all those times she had thrown him in the lake. Taking a step forward he groaned when his foot stepped on a conveniently placed twig. The noise caused Ryoko to whip around, seeing him she floated up into the air before teleporting away. 'Damnit.' Walking forward he decided to see what she was so interested in.

Tilting his head to one side and then the other he tried to figure it out while standing where Ryoko had. It just looked like a cave. Nothing really special about it. 'Ryoko must be going senile in her old age.' Shrugging he headed off to see Katsuhito. Food would be served soon and sometimes the old man took a while to deal with. At the outer edge of the bamboo forest he stopped when he started to hear something. It was faint and high pitched but he could swear he had heard it before.

Trying to find the source he looked all around him. As it got louder and louder he started to figure out the direction and looked up. High up above he caught a glimpse of a shiny object rapidly approaching before a cloud moved to block it. 'Oh crap, not Mihoshi again.'

**X X X X X X **

Rapidly typing away on her computer Washu found that even after 2000 years many of her live specimens had survived. While she had a backup detailing every experiment, nearly any of value had been taken by the Galaxy Police. Of course the sheer vastness of her lab had made several areas too troublesome for their investigation.

Which was good and bad, one of the areas she had found that did not get viewed was the one that Ranma and Rin-ohki had been contained in. The area was labeled control, where she had housed all the specimens that would be left as is while the mains were experimented upon. Backups at the ready really. She wasn't about to tell Ranma that though. The boy had enough troubles with his self worth being so tied to his martial arts abilities, that she couldn't hope to predict his reaction to learning that.

The notice icon, a small red crab waving a pair of fans, popped up in the corner. Activating the notice she found that Mihoshi's shuttle was returning and was currently entering the atmosphere directly above the home. Dismissing the notice she went back to cataloging data. 'It's so nice that the GP didn't feel the need to erase my database.' Quickly another notice came up indicating that the shuttle was not slowing down. Blinking she considered the possibility that Mihoshi had trusted that their was a planetary beacon. It took her all of a second to decide that it would be a safe bet to drag the others in the home into the lab until Mihoshi had crashed, oops she meant landed.

**X X X X X X**

Genma prided himself on many things. His manly physique, usually thought of as fat, since he was a stout fellow who wore a large baggy gi. Of course his expanding gut was pure muscle, so much so that it was expanding out just like those extremely muscled body builders. Certainly it wasn't because his food intake had tripled since getting his curse. After all he had to eat for two bodies.

His pride had taken a nose dive when that woman Mihoshi had questioned him. 'She's worse than the Master.' Shivering he tried to forget the interrogation. No he had bigger concerns, such as how he was supposed to get Ranma back under his thumb. Cats were obviously out. Ranma being able to go into the neko-ken with a single cat around hadn't happened since a year after he did the training. Which meant the boy was either learning to control it, or was becoming even more cowardly allowing his embarrassing fear of cats to get worse.

He preferred to think that it was the former but with Ranma's past track record on the matter, he couldn't help but think the latter. The boy had been such a disappointment with his fear of cats. But it was a useful disappointment and now even that was taken from him. Scratching the side of his bandanna clad head he snorted. '10 years of my life dedicated to training the boy and this is how he repays me? I should have just left him with Nodoka and tried to find a better kid to train.'

But who could have been as good as Ranma? The boy was a natural, as if he was made for combat, almost like he was a real Saotome. And for some reason Ranma took after Nodoka in looks. Not looking like him was a given, not being the father, but it was an easy jump of logic to think that Nodoka had birthed the boy before meeting him. Put him up for adoption, found a husband, went back to adopt. The perfect plan to preserve her honor no doubt.

Next time he saw his interfering wife he would making his suspicions known. The more he thought on it the more it had to be true. Ranma as a girl looked like a young Nodoka, even the off chance of him just naturally looking like her couldn't account for that. Though it was a guilty pleasure of his to get to see his wife again. Of course he would never do anything, but looking never hurt anyone, and the boy had little modesty. (5)

It was obviously too late to start over with another child. And it could never be his own. His own failings as a man made that impossible. That of course was another remnant of The Master. 'Wait a moment, the Master. Ranma's an excellent fighter but no one is a match for Him. And surely even He would see how the joining of the schools would be for the best.' Going to his family was out of the question, Ranma would be considered an abysmal failure and would be dealt with harshly.

"Saotome-kun I know that look, you're planning something aren't you?" Soun asked him as they sat on a train. Of course they had hopped aboard and not paid, what kind of sucker would pay for transportation?

"I think Tendo-kun that we may have to do something drastic."

"Like?"

"Like, You Know Who drastic."

"Saotome-kun you can't possible think to do that!" Nodding solemnly he pushed his glasses to sit higher on his nose.

"Indeed Tendo-kun, the one trump card I held over the boy, that would have gotten him to agree to upholding family honor, is worthless now."

"Yes, that neko-ken was a fearsome thing to behold. The only time I have felt such a battle aura was with Him."

"That was the first time that the boy did that weird ki thing." Genma wasn't all that sure what had happened or how Ranma had gotten free of the ropes. They had simply fell through him, such a powerful technique he had given the ungrateful boy.

"Still, to free Him? I can't agree with it."

"I suppose you're right Tendo-kun. But on the plus side he does seem to like your daughters so maybe we could send them to court him. Surely the boy can't continue to resist their charms."

"How devious Saotome-kun, and yes my daughters are all quite beautiful. Any red blooded young man would be lucky to have one of them. Surely Ranma can't resist their charms."

"I really don't know what I was thinking, to actually think to free Him."

"But a momentary weakness my friend."

**X X X X X X**

"So how was work dad?" Tenchi was strolling along with his father, book bag slung over one shoulder. Next to him his father had his briefcase and was trudging along diligently. He would have to remember to bring a thicker jacket tomorrow, supposedly it was going to be even colder as well as snow.

"Hard, old man Kurashima has me working on this new project. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't already working on the Sukayama project."

"Is that one the apartment building one?"

"Yes, and I'm nearly done thankfully. I've been working on it nonstop for two weeks now. Can we not talk about work anymore? I got a day off tomorrow and I want to relax for a while. How about we talk about your day?"

"Compared to the past few weeks? It was really boring. All my friends are going to a school close to Kurashiki. It'd be nice to be able to go to the same one, but it's too far away." (6)

"I'm sorry to hear that son, but at least you have such a festive house to return home too."

"It won't be the same without you though." Not to mention less safe for him, without the older male in the house, Ayeka and Ryoko might get a bit aggressive knowing that there were no parents around. Not that Ryoko seemed to care but Ayeka actually took stock in what his father had to say.

"I know, I don't really want to leave. But it's just too far from work."

"And you want to be near Rea-san right?" Tenchi chuckled as Nobuyuki's face flushed a bit.

"Have I really been that obvious?"

"Only a little." While he was a hopeless pervert, Tenchi really missed just being around his father, it had become impossible to spend any time with his remaining parent since the house guests moved in and taking up his duties at the shrine once more.

"So." Nobuyuki started and saddled up close. "Which of the girls are you going after?" He whispered.

"Dad!" Pushing the older man away they both started to laugh.

"Come now Tenchi, surely you think at least one of them is attractive." Rolling his eyes he just continued walking. Though he did feel his face flush thinking of Ranma-chan. "Oh so you do! Tell me which one is it? Is it the Princess? How bout the space pirate? Maybe even that blonde bombshell! Come on son you can tell me! Or is it all three? Oh a father can dream!"

"Dad!" He groaned and started to ignore him even further. Pausing at the crest of a hill that the road went over, he should have been awarded a nice view directly to the new location of his home. Instead all that was there was a pile of rubble. Squinting he tried to make out details.

"What is it Tenchi?"

"Uh, I think I may have to drop out of school."

"What, why!? It's important for you to get a good education."

"Yea but it looks like they destroyed the house while I was away."

"WHAT!?" The older man yelled and leaned over the guard rail trying to get just a little closer. "My house!" Nobuyuki cried out and fell to his knees. Somehow Tenchi knew that something like this would happen.

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

I updated my forum post about the ages of Yosho's children after finding a translation for the Tenchi Muyo novels. Though it isn't accurate per canon. Just had to change the birth order that I had written.

Yes Ranma-kun is shorter, the same height as Nodoka in fact, where before he was a couple centimeters taller. I'm still undecided on Ranma-chan. I was thinking taller because it would balance out the two forms more. Then again shorter would be in keeping that Ranma-kun got shorter. Oh well I'll decide next chapter.

Sorry I kinda made Genma into a bastard. He's not evil per say but he's an irresponsible moron. I'm sure a few people are upset that he didn't get his just deserts and get an all expense paid trip to jail. Honestly it always irks me when there is a trial scene and Genma gets some punishment. Especially when it's vigilante, of course in this case it isn't but then again I also don't believe in solving problems.

Everyone forgot about Shampoo.

(1) I don't remember seeing any kind of television until the house is rebuilt. I also doubt that they would have cable out there, which means they would have needed satellite which you don't see a dish for.

(2) If you've seen a pair of hazel eyes those are basically Ranma's now. I really wanted a duel color eye that could actually happen, aside from the shape of the pupil of course. I got the idea from my own actually.

(3) Remember Seina is a disaster to himself and others. Or should it be more appropriate to say calamity?

(4) I won't attempt to describe the horror of Genma's interrogation. But it involved a lot of screaming for mercy and would have scarred younger readers.

(5) I'm not sure why no one has mentioned my note of Genma's...perversion earlier. Which was coincidently back in chapter 5. Genma trained under Happosai, does any more need to be said? Also back in chapter 7 Nodoka believed that she could not conceive a child, this was untrue, he told Nodoka that it was her so she could take the blame for not providing a child.

(6) Kurashiki West High is the name of Tenchi's high school. I should go back and update chapter 1 but it's an unimportant detail.

Yes I just made Nodoka and Genma descendants of Kagome and Inuyasha. As with Ryoto referencing both him and Ryoko, Miyake references all three family lines since it can mean three houses, Tokusei can mean special quality. I updated my forum as well as my profile page to include a link to a Nodoka Genma family tree. Nodoka's family being peaceful has about half the generations of Genma's, so the yokai blood is far more potent in her causing her to age around 3/4ths the normal rate. Inuyasha seems to be about 1/8th (Looks about 16/17 but is really 150 years old. Well really 200 but those 50 years he was sealed to a tree without changing.

Sengoku period– Or the warring states period, I don't remember a mention of a specific date that Inuyasha occurs at.

Yes I have considered the idea of making Nodoka related to Yosho but I think that would be a bit much, so I won't. As I said before there would be parallels to the fic 'Process of Elimination'.

I'm honestly surprised at how complex this story is becoming, or at least how much I think it is. My original plan was fairly simple, stick to the Tenchi Universe timeline, mix in some OVA elements, add Ranma, blend until lumps disappear. I'm just glad I haven't come up with any obvious contradictions.

BTW the chapter title is a reference to the OVA episode where Mihoshi also destroys the home.


	12. No Need for Family

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

(telepathy between Washu, Ryoko, Ranma, and cabbit)

Not near as many rewrites with this one, just some problems coming up with story elements.

**X X X X X X**

Ryoga was finding that he did not like snow. Not one little bit. He hadn't really liked it before, being that he almost always slept outside. But he had a new found hatred for the falling white stuff. It was cold water. Everywhere cold water, and the curse seemed to view it as equal to a dip in a river stream. It was mildly safer though since it was in a solid form but he had already changed twice now. In fact right now he was a little black piglet trying to pull his pack along till he could find some hot water.

It didn't help any that the hooves of a pig were not good at getting traction. Puttering in place for a moment he stopped and caught his breath. It may have been only a centimeter of snow but for a small pig it might has well have been a meter. 'Curse you Saotome! I'll get my revenge for this humiliation!' He yelled but it came out as a series of oinks and bwee's.

"A pig?" Freezing he released his shoulder strap to turn and find a girl with long blue hair in a yellow jogging suit, kneeling down next to him.

"Bwee?" He had meant to ask for hot water but as a pig it was hard to do.

"You're so cute!" The girl yelled and gathered him up into her arms, squeezing him to her, ahem, assets. Struggling he tried to get away but the girl was very strong. "You must be freezing! I know I'll take you home and you can be my pet. Let's see, you'll need a name, how about I call you P-chan? P as in pig and chan as in cute."

"BWEE!" Making all manner of pig noises he tried his hardest to escape this girls grasp. He wasn't a pet! Then again it was better than being dinner. No! He had to get back to finding Ranma! His squeals ended as he suddenly couldn't decide which he wanted to see more. Helpless he was carried into a home, his pack left behind. "Bwee." He gave off sadly knowing that it would be hell without any supplies.

"Akane, what is that?"

"It's a little pig I found outside Kasumi. He's frozen, do you think I could keep him?"

"I don't know." His piggy eyes blinked as a kind looking girl inspected him. "Aren't pigs unhygienic?"

"Oh no, they're supposed to be very clean animals." Hey he wasn't an animal!

"He's wearing a bandanna, he looks like he's already someone's pet." She's right! So let me go you crazy girl!

"He was pulling around a big backpack. I know I'll keep him and put up a sign saying we have him. If no one claims him, can I keep him? Please please please please?"

"Only if no one claims him, and make sure you bring in the pack."

"Right." Being squeezed rather roughly he had no choice but to remain in the girls arms as she retrieved his pack. 'I swear this is all Ranma's fault! Although this does feel kinda nice. No no! I gotta get back to hunting Ranma! Or maybe finding Ranma-san again.' If pigs could blush he would have. 'Anything but this crazy girl!' (1)

**X X X X X X**

Tenchi awoke to not a particularly unpleasant sensation. Opening his eyes he looked down to see Ryoko's hand making little swirl motions on his chest. Everyone was currently inside of Washu's lab, being forced to sleep in the entryway since Washu had little in the way of living space. Even taking that it wasn't designed for it, it was nice, the temperature was perfect, the air was fresh, and having everyone in one room limited the girls trying to jump him.

Unfortunately that meant Ryoko and Ayeka had landed their futons on either side of him. Ryoko had rolled over on to her stomach to reach over and stroke his chest. Better than something farther south. Jerking a bit as another hand fell on his chest he looked to the other side and found Ayeka had rolled over on to her stomach and was now imitating Ryoko.

Gulping he knew that this could only end badly for him. That feeling increased one hundred fold when the two girls hands met. For a moment they were still, then they started a battle at a very light pace, a finger flick there, pinch here, but as with everything it wasn't to last and soon Ryoko had simply crushed Ayeka's hand.

"AIIIIIIIIIEE" Everyone was awake at Ayeka's ear shattering screech. Washu on her floating cushion snorted and fell off of it. Ryoko still clutching Ayeka's hand rolled away from him, throwing the princess through the air and into some bushes. At this point everyone else had sat up and were now watching as a snarling Ayeka stepped from the bushes.

"Ry, o, KO!" The girl screamed and her tiny logs started to form around Ryoko who had used the opportunity to slide over and sit next to his side. Feeling doom about to befall him, he looked quickly between both girls, desperately hoping that someone would stop what was going to happen.

"Oh _princess_, what are you doing playing in the bushes?"

"DIE YOU MONSTER!" Ayeka called out and he felt high voltage ripped through his body. Lucky for Ryoko she had teleported to stand behind Ayeka.

Twitching on the ground he vaguely heard the concerned voices of Ayeka and Ryoko now trying to care for him. Everyone else just tried to go back to sleep.

**X X X X X X**

Slipping from his futon several hours later, Ranma took a moment to look at Tenchi who was still being attended to by Ayeka and Ryoko. He almost wished he had a camera. Stretching he smiled at Rin-ohki who was mirroring his movements to his right. Padding over to where Washu was sitting on her cushion and rapidly typing on her laptop he looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing. Next to her was Nobuyuki who would occasionally add something.

"Good morning Ranma-chan." The red head greeted without looking away from her work.

"Morning Ranma." Tenchi's father greeted.

"Uh, morning, whatcha doing?"

"Well thanks to Mihoshi-dono the house was destroyed."

"Uh, yea."

"But that also illustrated how poor the construction was, along with all the repairs Tenchi and you have had to make to the house when your sister and Ayeka get rambunctious. So I am synthesizing materials that will make the home much harder to damage but easier to repair at the same time."

"It's too bad you can't sell some of this technology to my work, Washu-chan." Nobuyuki added with emphasis on the chan part.

"I could in a round about way. I have thought of slowly introducing technology as a means to make money, not that I need it, but even just getting you away from fossil fuels would give your planet a major boost in becoming part of the rest of the universe."

"Ah, I just thought of something. We could move the house closer to the lake and add on a porch." Nobuyuki started drawing on a piece of paper.

"Great, I'll let you do this, um Washu is there a bath and a toilet around here someplace?" He hadn't been able to take a bath yesterday and he had been laid up the day before. While he didn't smell terrible, even in the wild he would have taken a bath in a stream a long time ago.

"If you head down the steps to the left it's the first door."

"Thanks." Bending down and allowing Rin-ohki to jump up to his shoulder easier he made his way to the only door on the left side. Opening it and stepping through he froze just inside. Behind him the door closed silently.

It was, well he figured that it was a swimming pool, considering it looked like it could hold a hundred people with room to spread out and swim laps. In the center was a large fountain that had four dragon heads shooting water. On the far side was what looked like a forest. The ceiling was at least 5 meters high and was supported by large marble columns. (2)

Getting used to his mother being able to do incredible things, he glanced around looking for the toilet and found a set of them off to the right side in a separated area. Rin-ohki left his shoulder to go play in the water as he went to do his business. He growled when he noticed that the skin tight battle suit had reformed in the night, forcing him to dismiss it again.

'Well time to see the damage.' Stripping from his clothes and untying his hair he threw them in a basket next to the wash area and filled a bucket of cool water. Dumping it over his head he felt the expected change. A quick inspection revealed that aside from her ears and hair color, both of which were now that same as a male, she was pretty much the same as before. Wait that wasn't right the height change hadn't been that much so this form much be taller now.

That was somewhat of a relief. She didn't like this form all that much but at least she hadn't become a different person again. It wasn't that it was scary, she did not get scared. It was just bizarre, yea that's it, and at least now she wasn't as much of a midget. Ending her washing session she headed over to the large, visibly steaming pool. Grinning at finding that the far end was actually a deep end, she jumped as high up in the air as she could and landed in the water with a large splash. Surfacing as a male he started to paddle around but quickly decided against doing laps with how hot the water was.

It didn't stop him from backstroking along towards where Rin-ohki was floating on her back. Next time he'd have to wash her feet at least. Probably bad karma for her to go in the water without being clean. Well she wasn't dirty but that whole tradition thing. Settling down on a ledge coming up from the side of the pool he leaned back and relaxed, letting the hot water melt away any worries he might have.

**X X X X X X**

A short time later everyone from the home had went outside to sort and bring their belongings inside the lab until the house was done. Looking down, Ranma poked a small mechanical thing that had stopped to look at him with his foot. Around him were others all going through the rubble of the house and sorting out the materials into different piles. They were table shaped with an arm on top for grasping and moving things. Only about a meter high, there were around 30 of them moving quickly around and would even occasionally fight with each other as if they would get a prize for doing the most work.

Ayeka and Sasami had quickly gathered up all their things, which were mostly contained in wooden cylinders. With the help of Azaka and Kamidake they had moved all of them inside of Washu's lab. Tenchi and Nobuyuki having the most items took longer. Mihoshi and him had little and it took them only a short time to get everything moved in. Nodoka's bags took even less time since she hadn't really unpacked. With all the personal items away, the robots blurred into activity, separating and sorting the wreckage with renewed vigor.

Flying back over to the lab entrance, he slipped inside. While the robots were interesting to watch as they started to construct the home, that didn't mean he wanted to be out in the cold. Inside he found everyone busy with something. Sasami and Mihoshi were playing with the cabbits, Ayeka and Ryoko were badgering Tenchi, Nodoka was helping Nobuyuki and Washu plan the new house, and that left him with little to do. Lacing his fingers behind his head he fell back to recline in mid air. It was hard not to move around when he was like this, but it wouldn't be any fun if it wasn't a challenge.

"So what are we going to do for breakfast?" His eyes instantly popped open when Sasami asked that question. Unconsciously he started to float a bit closer.

"Everything that wasn't soaked by water was crushed by the house." Nodoka answered.

"Unfortunately I've never kept much food in the lab. You could ask Katsuhito-dono but I doubt he has the facilities or supply to feed everyone. Ryoko-chan why don't you take everyone into town. You could make a day of it, by the time you return the house should be completed."

"What? Why me?" The space pirated growled and crossed her arms.

"Ryo-ohki is the only transportation that can carry everyone." Washu pointed out.

"I thought you said we should keep a low profile?" Ryoko glared at the scientist.

"Just do it quickly, if Ryo-ohki is only seen for a few seconds I doubt it will cause much of a stir."

"Um, I'm not so sure that's a good idea." Tenchi tried to interject.

"Fine fine." Ryoko said hastily and grabbed Tenchi to pull him outside.

"Actually if you don't mind, do you think you could drop me and maybe Ranma off at my parents home? It's on the other side of Okayama, near the coast." Nodoka asked and Ranma looked curiously over at her.

"Whatever, let's just go before my goodwill runs out." Ryoko quickly snagged Ryo-ohki by the scruff of her neck and along with a protesting Tenchi left the room. Ayeka followed shortly in her attempt to stop the boy from falling into the evil monster woman's foul clutches. Sasami likewise followed quickly though she was concerned over how Ryoko was handling Ryo-ohki.

He stopped at the door though and turned to find Washu still typing away. Ever since freeing her, he had only seen Washu eat a couple times. A meal a day or even one every other day seemed to keep the small red head going. "Aren't you coming?"

"Me? No I'm fine, besides it will give me some hassle free time to get the house finalized and started."

"Alright." Turning he shut the door.

Behind him Washu sat for several more minutes typing on her computer. The building plan was all but set. Including rooms for all the current occupants to have their own. Added on was a single spare that she would later link to subspace rooms to give the home an unlimited amount of space. Features not standard to the home before were a greenhouse, a large deck that would go out over the lake to serve as a landing platform for Mihoshi's shuttle. Which she would personally program never to crash there again. It would also have a walkway cutting across to the shore further down. Running water itself could be provided to and from the lake with a cleaning unit as the go between.

Solar panels to provide power since the unit Ryoko had installed had burnt out when exposed to water. She would have to berate her daughter for creating such an unstable unit. Half the reason the house was destroyed was the unit exploding in response to moisture. It was fortunate that everyone had been in her lab at the time.

While she had included a simple bath for Tenchi and Ranma, with how many females were in the home she had connected the doorway on a gender filter to her own inside the lab. Of course she had to extrapolate on the gender filter to make it so Ranma went to the correct one regardless of current gender. 'Hmmm, or maybe I'll just leave that out, more fun that way.'

Hearing a noise behind her she turned and found a purple haired girl wrapped up in a white sheet. "Where Shampoo?"

'So that was what had been nagging at the back of my mind.'

**X X X X X X**

Rin-ohki sat happily on Ranma's shoulder as he walked with Nodoka to go to her parents place. Ryoko hadn't been all that happy with having to bring them even further into civilization. Not that his sister really cared about people finding out that there were aliens but it meant time alone with Tenchi lost. The rest of their group had left to explore the area and visit a few friends of Tenchi back near Kurashiki which was on the other side of the city.

Stretching his arms up above his head, he relaxed and clasped them behind his head. Being back in the city he was acutely aware of the sheer presence of humanity around him. Even in the relatively unpopulated area he was in, he found it uncomfortable. Rin-ohki though was being very animated through the link, wanting information on everything and everyone she saw.

"Here we are." Nodoka announced as they came upon the large gate to an equally large house.

"Wow." The place looked huge, a flight of steps went up to the gate, midway up and spreading off to either side was a platform lined with small trees. Most of which having lost their leaves already. Even over the two and a half meter wall he could see the top of a three story building.

"Remember my family has been around a long time Ranma, how did you think I was able to afford the house in Nerima?"

"Uh I didn't really think about it." Of course now that made sense, Nodoka didn't seem to have a job yet had a house nearly as large as the Tendo's did. Nerima wasn't that densely populated but even there land should have been expensive.

"While my parents may not have liked Genma, they were not above supporting me. Before we adopted you we lived in an old tenement home that was torn down. They offered to purchase me a home and set up a trust fund so that I wouldn't need to worry about money again."

"Wow." Doing a quick check of the other homes in the area he noticed that they were also equally as large. He hadn't even noticed that they had wandered into a rich portion of town.

"Well no time like the present." His adopted mother didn't sound all that confident but she stepped forward to climb the steps.

She took a deep breath and then pushed a door bell on one side. Dimly he could hear the soft chime from inside, followed by a shuffling of feet towards them. The door opened to reveal a man in his fifties, short brown hair with a sprinkling of gray thrown in, and he was half a head taller than him. He had a friendly smile on his face that increased then hardened into neutral over finding out who waited at the door. Ranma was instantly reminded of Katsuhito by the mans presence and his traditional clothing.

"Daughter, it has been some time."

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to call you."

"No no this is a pleasant surprise." His pleasant smile returned then he turned to him. "Is this?"

"I am Ranma sir." Bowing quickly he felt Rin-ohki slip off his shoulder and had to catch her. Fumbling for a moment he chuckled nervously.

"And where is, he?" The man continued without giving him a second glance.

"Where is who?" Nodoka asked obliviously.

"A good answer. Please come in, your mother is off shopping but should be back shortly."

"Thank you Father." The man stood back and allowed them to enter. He had expected a large house and he was right. Directly in front of him was a three story home that spread the width of a huge courtyard. The strange thing was that there wasn't anything else. But on the sides of his house he could see small patches of grass and with the wall surrounding continuing back there was probably more there.

"Do you remember where the tea room is?"

"How could I forget?" Nodoka answered and started to walk across the courtyard. Caught up in examining the home he had to rush to catch up. Following the two adults they entered into the home on the far left. Everything looked to be traditionally styled and unlike Nodoka's home it looked like it had been around for a much longer time.

Nodoka and her Father, who he still hadn't found out the name for, moved confidently into a large tea room at the end of the hall. They took seats at a low table near a corner but before he could take his own a woman that looked like an older Nodoka stepped into the room with a somewhat maniacal look in her eye.

"Mother." Nodoka started but the woman ignored him and ran over to him.

"Uh hi, I'm Ranma." He nervously bowed and hoped she would stop looking at him like that. Of course when he looked up she had her hands clasped and her eyes were sparkling. "Uh, is something wrong?" He was totally unprepared for the bone crushing hug that she gave him. "Cant...breath...need...air..." He gasped out and the hug was relented.

"Nodoka how could you keep such a cute grandson from me!" The woman chided Nodoka and dragged him over to sit down.

"But." Nodoka started.

"No buts! Ooh he even has your red hair, and what are these?" The woman reached up and started to play roughly with his ears.

"Ouch ouch ouch." Ducking away he rubbed them to try and get rid of the soreness. What did she think they were? Handle bars? Looking back he was suddenly assaulted by the most heinous attack in all the world. The sad puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry Ranma-chan, I didn't mean to hurt you." She said in a sickeningly sweet voice with her hands clasped together.

"Um, well, that is, I'm alright, I've been through worse." He flinched as she latched on to him again but this time with a lot less force. "Forgive me."

"I see Mother is the same as ever." Nodoka said teasingly as he waited for the woman to stop fawning over him.

"She has been waiting for you to bring her a grandchild for a while now." Nodoka just chuckled nervously.

" Ooh and you're very handsome, and who's this cute little thing? Oh he's just adorable!"Ranma was released and Rin-ohki was grabbed to be cuddled.

"Actually she's a girl." He said softly trying not to draw the womans attention back to him. Rin-ohki liked the attention so she could have it. Luckily her attention was firmly focused on the cabbit who he could tell was enjoying acting the role of a cute pet.

**X X X X X X**

Nearly a half hour later Ranma had now found a new level of boring. Nodoka and her parents had started a conversation that he had no interest in. Apparently someone had opened up some flower shop, another had just had a kid, this other one had started a new job. 'Boring boring boring.' Without a sound he stood and slipped from the room to explore, leaving Rin-ohki to keep an eye on everyone.

He was walking without a sound due to the fact that he was floating just above the floor. It seemed to be a good exercise for control over his flying ability. Heading towards the back he wanted to find out if there was anything back there. With how little was out front there just had to be something in the back. Glancing behind him to make sure no one was watching he phased soundlessly through the back door.

Now out in the backyard he almost gaped. He had known they were close to the ocean but the idea that Nodoka's parents had a water front property had never came into his mind. But behind the house was a gently sloping field that ran directly down to a beach. 'Just how rich are these people? And why hadn't Genma tried to get some of it?'

"You move very silently." He nearly jumped out of his skin as Nodoka's father appeared next to him gazing out at the water. "This is our families ancestral home, the land has been in our family for close to 400 years now. Nodoka tells me that you are working at a shrine outside of town. It seems the family tradition has been inherited in you, even without knowing of it."

Shrugging he shivered a bit as a cool wind picked up off the water. "I sorta fell into it."

"You don't handle cold well do you?" The man asked.

"I'll survive."

"Nonsense, there is no reason to suffer when you're more than welcome to come inside. Besides I'm sure the women folk have finished talking, for now." The man laughed at his joke and ushered him back inside. "I know you wouldn't meet many at the shrine but do you have someone you're seeing?"

"Uh, what?"

"I mean do you have a girl in your life."

"I have five that I live with, is that what you mean?"

"I'm asking if you have a girlfriend."

"Oh...no, but Genma did arrange a bunch of marriages for me. Not that I'm gonna go through with what that stupid panda has planned." Nodoka's father paused and thought that over, probably confused over the panda comment.

"Do you like girls grandson?"

"What? Of course!" He shouted and glared at the man. This guy better not know about his curse. He was a guy and he liked girls. (3)

"Easy easy it was just a question, it just seems odd that a handsome young man like you wouldn't have a girlfriend."

"Yea well I'm busy, I aint got time for girls."

"Really what are you busy with? I'm sure Katsuhito doesn't work you that hard."

"Theres a place in China I gotta..." He trailed off realizing what he was about to say and what Washu had already said. There was no cure, at least not for him. He held out hope but when someone like Washu told you something like that it was hard to deny it. Blinking he found a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I asked, it's obviously a painful memory." Shaking himself from any depressing thoughts he walked a bit faster to get back to where Nodoka was.

"Uh what am I supposed to call you anyways?" He asked, having never been around relatives.

"My name is Shinji, but Grandfather will do just fine."

The man smiled warmly and was about to say something else when a girl a couple years his senior came flying around the corner. Seeing Shinji standing there with his arms now crossed she skidded across the floor in an effort to stop herself and nearly ended up bowling him over by the time she stopped.

"What is it this time Granddaughter?" Shinji asked the girl. Who was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a tight tshirt and a navy jacket that went down to mid thigh. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that trailed down to mid back. And with everyone he met lately she was taller than him by a few centimeters.

"Um oh well, you see I was just heading off because this new place at the mall is having a sale and I really wanted to get there before anyone else. Supposedly they have these new designer jeans and I was hoping to get this top I saw, oh uh who's this?" Ranma blinked and tried to decipher what the girl had just said as she now was looking him up and down.

"This is your cousin Ranma. Ranma this is Masako." Shinji introduced. "How about you show him around? I'm sure a young lad such as himself, isn't interested in spending the day talking with us old folk."

"But Grandpa!" The girl whined and a stern look silenced her. "Fine." She said in a huff and grabbed his shirt sleeve to pull him away to leave the house. Unsure on whether or not he should follow or stay he did end up getting dragged outside. "So why haven't I met you before?" Masako asked and almost threw him forward so she wasn't dragging him anymore.

"Probably cause I've been away on a 10 year training trip with a moron." Feeling that he might as well go with it and find out about the rest of the town he quickly checked his pocket to see if he had his wallet. Next to him Masako looked him up and down and frowned.

"Do you always wear, _that_?" She asked and made a disgusted face.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Checking to make sure that he had worn the good set of his normal wear, it was actually his favorite red shirt. Of course he had to borrow an old jacket from Tenchi since he still didn't have one, it wasn't much just a simple black jacket but being slightly smaller than Tenchi meant it fit well.

"Well we're going to get you something new. Something to commemorate our first meeting!" The girl announced happily while bouncing along. "Hmm, we should get to know each other a bit, so where do you live?"

"A shrine north of Okayama." He shrugged not really seeing any harm in giving out some information. "You?"

"We just left there. I've been living with Grandma and Grandpa for a few years now. Alright how about what do you do for fun?" She took a moment to stare at him a moment then continued. "You don't do a bunch of cosplaying do you?"

"Cosplaying? No clue what that is but if I'm not working I'm usually practicing the art, or just doing nothing." He nearly missed a step at that. 'Is that all I do?'

"The art? What art? Are you a musician or something?"

"No, martial arts, all I ever remember is practicing the art." Well that was depressing, he loved the art, but the only other person around him that dedicated themselves to one thing as much as him was Washu. And honestly he found it a bit disturbing how his mother did nothing but spend time in her lab alone. Would he turn out like that?

Katsuhito was a great martial artist, only in his mind would he ever admit that the old man was better than him. But he only ever practiced with him and Tenchi. Ryoko was dangerous, and never did a thing to better herself. Though he now knew that all the flying, teleporting, and moving through objects that she did were to keep her skills sharp with those abilities, not just for her to show off. But he suspected she did like the attention.

"Hey! You alright?" Coming back to the real world he found Masako waving her hand in front of his space. "You spaced out there. Come on we're here." His arm was grabbed again and he was pulled into a shopping mall. "Ya know why do you wear those ears anyways? They look expensive."

"What about my ears?" He asked a bit more venomously than he intended.

"Gee touchy touchy. They just seem like an odd thing to wear around for no reason."

"Yea well if I could get rid of them I would." He said irritably and the girl took a moment to examine him closer and then gasped.

"They're real!" Growling he looked around at the few people who noticed Masako's outburst. Being a school day and around lunch time meant there were few people under the age of 18 but there were still a good deal of people around. "Oops I'm sorry, It's just, WOW I mean you have cat ears! How'd you get them? Can you hear really good? Can you move them?"

"Drop it, alright?" He hissed and glared at his cousin. That was weird enough. All his life it had been just him and Genma and now in the past month he had gained two mothers, a set of grandparents, and a cousin. Rubbing his forehead he couldn't help but wonder how someone dealt with all these people around? Groaning he felt someone grab his ears only this time gently and move them about.

"Wow." Pausing she blushed and stepped away quickly. "Uh sorry, so how did you come about them anyways? Is your dad an oni or something? I've heard Grandpa talk about him a couple times, what's his name? Gooma?"

"Genma, and he's not my dad."

"Ah problems at home, well If you ever have a problem just talk to Grandpa, he's always taken care of everything for me." The girl said happily but with a hint of sadness at the end. Clapping, a large smile spread over Masako's face. "Let's go shopping!"

"Ugh!"

"Come on it will be fun!"

**X X X X X X**

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Nodoka asked as she sobbed into her mother Hiromi's side. They had just broken the news to her of her sister Noriko and her husband Kenichi's deaths four years ago.

"We thought you were happy with Genma, we didn't want to drag you back into our lives." Shinji said, trying to sound soothing.

"I was alone!" She shouted and hugged her mother tighter. "Genma left with Ranma after he was 6! I've been alone 10 years!" Her parents shared a horrified look at that revelation as she cried harder. Her big sister was gone, and she hadn't even been told because they thought she was happy. She hadn't been happy, she had been miserable waiting every day for Ranma to return.

"Shhhh, shhhhh." Her mother squeezed her tighter and rocked her back and forth.

**X X X X X X**

Walking diligently up the steps behind his father Tenchi couldn't help but lament his fate as a pack mule. Several duffel bags, boxes, and loose items were piled on him. His father wasn't much better but had gotten the lighter load. With the house being destroyed Nobuyuki had taken the opportunity to move his things over to Rea's apartment. Unlucky for them it did not have an elevator and she lived on the top floor of a five story building.

Trailing behind him carrying small items or nothing at all were the women in his life. He got more than his fair share of dirty looks from some college guys as they watched them try and get his attention. Reaching the top floor Nobuyuki shifted a box to another hand and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" Rea's voice called and the door opened to reveal the short green haired woman. "Nobuyuki-kun! What are, did something happen?" She asked concerned and stepped aside so they could enter the apartment. Looking around he found that a portion had been converted into an office for his father to work.

"Ah heh heh there was an accident last night that sort of forced me to come early." His father said nervously and started to pile his luggage in a corner.

"An accident? Was anyone hurt?"

"No no, just a little damage to the house. But I took it as a sign that I should make my get away so to speak." Nobuyuki laughed and helped him pull off some of the stuff he was carrying.

"I see, well make yourselves at home I'll go get everyone something to drink. I know how difficult those stairs can be." Everyone and even Ryoko thanked her as she went off to the kitchen. Moving to the living room they took seats around a coffee table. Smiling he couldn't help but think that Rea hadn't changed at all since the last time he met her. Always nice and worrying about the needs of others.

Rea returned quickly carrying a tray filled with tea cups and placed them on the table in front of everyone. "I didn't know what everyone liked, but I remembered Tenchi-chan likes English tea, I hope that's to everyone else's liking." Another round of thanks went in Rea's direction. "Well now that that's taken care of, I am Natsuki Rea, and who might you be?" She asked to no one in particular.

Ayeka and Sasami stood up and bowed formally. "I am Masaki Ayeka Jurai, and this is my younger sister."

"Masaki Sasami Jurai." The blue haired girl finished, but after getting an indignant miyah from Ryo-ohki she finished. "And this is Ryo-ohki-chan."

"Masaki?" Rea asked confused over the last names.

"They're uh cousins Rea-san, from Hokkaido. They're staying with me out at the shrine for a while." Tenchi butted in, Rea did not need to know about the girls extraterrestrial origins.

"Really? It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Kuramitsu Mihoshi mam!" Mihoshi announced excitedly and shook Rea's hand rather forcibly.

"It's nice to meet you dear." The green haired woman said a bit nervously. "And that leaves this young lady." Rea turned to Ryoko who was busy slurping down her tea.

"Hakubi Ryoko." She said after a moments pause and reached to grab the kettle so she could pour herself another glass.

"Um, charmed, I think. Um isn't there someone else staying at your home as well? Nobuyuki-kun mentioned a boy and another girl." Rea asked.

"That would be Ranma and Washu. Washu is Ryoko and Ranma's mother."

"Oh wow, it must be very lively with all the people out there. Though I have no clue why Nobuyuki-kun decided to move the home so suddenly out to the shrine. Why it was practically over night."

"Yea, over night." He answered and sweat dropped. 'And lively enough to destroy the house.'

**X X X X X X**

Three hours later Shinji was busying himself outside on the walkway sweeping off imaginary dirt. Nodoka had calmed down and both her and Hiromi had went upstairs to help make her presentable. The small amount of makeup that she had on was no in shambles and he reasoned that she just wanted to take her mind off Noriko.

He was deeply concerned for his remaining child, knowing that he and Hiromi had screwed things up by not telling her when it happened. But with how vehement Nodoka had been that she loved and would be happy with Genma they had thought it best to leave her out of it, believing that she would be far happier not to be brought back into family matters.

The broom in his hands creaked as his hands tightened around it. 'Genma.' Not only had that man left her, something he had expected from the start, but he had also taken with him Nodoka's only child. He just hoped that he did not see Genma any time soon. He did not think he would be able to control himself.

Turning towards the gate as it opened he tilted his head to the side curiously as Masako waltzed through with her usual jubilant attitude over spending far too much money. The difference being was that she didn't have large shopping bags hanging off both arms. Instead trailing behind her was Ranma, at least 3 bags on each arms and several strapped to his back. Masako stopped and had the good graces to look sheepish, knowing that one of his patented 'Stop buying all those clothes' speeches would have to be given now or later.

"Granddaughter, what have we talked about?"

Masako's eyes looked upwards and holding up a finger. "Don't buy so much because there's no way you could possibly wear all those. But I didn't even really buy anything for me, Ranma told me how he only had like 4 sets of clothes, and there was no way I was going to let that stand. So I bought him a wardrobe. Really I didn't spend that much, a lot of it was on sale. It would have been criminal for me to let him walk around in the rags he had on."

"Hey!" Ranma protested.

"Oh hush, sides you look really handsome in everything. Someone with a body like yours has no right to hide it with those ugly Chinese clothes."

"How much?" He asked breaking her from going further.

"Heh, well, I haven't really looked at how much, and as you can see we went to quite a few stores, so there are a few different receipts." Tapping his foot he gave her an annoyed look, she paused then mumbled something while coughing.

"What was that?"

"I said, cough couch 130,000 yen cough cough."

"I'm sorry did you just say 130,000 yen?" He asked sweetly knowing that it was probably more. "Could you come here Granddaughter?" Shuffling nervously over to him he held up his hand. Taking the cue she put her credit card in his hand. Pocketing it he handed over the broom. "Get sweeping."

"Yes sir."

"Come on Ranma you can put those inside." Taking the lone bag that Masako carried he walked back towards the house. The poor boy followed behind him. Setting them down just inside the entrance he found that Ranma wasn't actually laboring to carry the bags. 'Hmm so the boy is rather strong.' And with how smoothly Ranma moved to his untrained eyes he could tell that Ranma would have to be very skilled. "So did you have fun?"

"Fun?" The boy asked incredulously.

"I see you have found out why I do not accompany her out on her many trips to the shopping mall."

"Wait a minute, did you do that on purpose?"

"Not at all." Smiling slyly he clapped the short boy on the back. "Did you grab anything to eat while you were out?"

"No, it was just, shopping." Chuckling at the boys shivering he directed him towards the kitchen.

"Come on I bet theres something to be found in the kitchen to hold you over until dinner."

"Food? Dinner?" He had to smile at the boys almost comical expression. Eyes opened wide and cat ears slightly perked up.

Wait a minute, why hadn't he noticed that before? As far as he knew the last member of the Miyake family to have non human features had been his great great grandmother who only had claws and fangs. And those had been minor. But Ranma had very cat like eyes and ears. Which didn't fit at all with the family being descended from a dog yokai.

Several other things became apparent to him now that he was looking for it. Ranma did look like Nodoka's child, there was little he could say to deny that, but there was none of Genma in him. A plus in his book, but there should have been something. Hearing a series of rapid footfalls run by overhead then down the steps he turned around and found the odd pet Ranma had come flying towards them.

"Rin? What is it?" Ranma asked and the creature hopped up into his arms then up onto his shoulder. Making it's odd cat like noises, the boy seemed to understand what it was saying. "Hey it's ok, I'm sure she didn't mean to."

"Mean to? You understand it?"

"Oops, uh yea, she's special and I sorta of can understand her." Raising an eyebrow he didn't press. His knowledge of animals, limited as it was, only included normal everyday ones, exotic ones such as this were out of his league.

"Well in that case what did she say?"

"She got stepped on."

"Must have been my wife, bless her heart that she loves everything as much as she does, but she gets a little rough."

"You're telling me." The red haired boy grumbled and scratched the creature behind one of it's large ears.

**X X X X X X**

An overly pleased Washu looked at her handwork with pride. The dimensional tuner was now complete. Sure there were a few bugs that would have to be worked out after getting some data on it while running. But other than that she had just bypassed the normal boundaries of the universe to go to alternate universes. There may even be the possibility that it would create universes off inputed parameters.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA And that's why I am Washu-chan the greatest scientific genius in all the universe!" She cackled madly as her mini Washu puppets joined in. After a full five minutes of laughing she stopped and pouted. It wasn't any fun if there was no one around to make uncomfortable or congratulate her on the achievement.

Shrugging she headed off to check on the progress of the house. The outside work should have been long finished and the inside work should be nearing completion. When pieces could be prefabricated it made all those little construction practices meaningless. And with the advanced materials the house would stand up better to abuse it would no doubt face, as well as the ravages of the elements.

Stepping out of the lab into what would be the new living and dining room she nodded at most of the big work was done, leaving only minor details left.

"Unit zero!" She called out and obediently one of her robots appeared before her. "What is the progress on the home?"

"Construction is at 68 percent completion. Estimated time to reach 100 percent completion is approximately 2 hours 31 minutes and 12 seconds." Unit zero said in a synthesized voice.

"Have there been any delays?"

"No Washu-chan, construction goes on schedule."

"Good, back to work now."

"Yes Washu-chan!"

She didn't even watch as the robot slipped away. 'Alright everyone should be back shortly after construction is complete. They'll want to put their belongings away. And then I can show off the dimensional tuner! I may have to find out a way to get them out of my hair more often, what with how much I've been able to accomplish today.'

Heading back into her lab she hopped up on her mid air cushion and tapped her finger on the keyboard wondering what to do now. Being the only one around, aside from Katsuhito up at the shrine, she couldn't study them. Her children were off in town so she couldn't run them through tests. Tenchi was likewise unavailable.

And she really didn't want to start on a new project now that the dimensional tuner was finished. After all she had to show it off before starting something new. Along with the unveiling she would give a great fan fare of what she would accomplish next. What scientist would do it any other way?

She did have all the data from Ranma sitting in a temporary file. Bringing up his permanent file and Ryoko's, which at the moment had a minimal amount of data since she hadn't been able to do another scan of the girl since 2000 years ago. Oh well she even a genius had to refresh her memory. And when Ryoko got back she would just have to get some new readings, whether she wanted to or not. 'After all, who was Ryoko-chan to deny her dear sweet Momma a harmless test or twelve?'

**X X X X X X**

"Nodoka-chan?" Hiromi asked through the door. On the other side she heard a small shuffle and then a sniffle. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just cleaning up." Nodoka said from inside far too quickly.

"Dear you've been in there for almost an hour now. Come on out sweetie, we can start dinner together, would that make you feel better?"

"I just." The door slid open enough for Nodoka's face to peek through. Her eyes were red and what little makeup she now had on was smeared into an unrecognizable blur. "I can't stop." The door slid closed again.

Wringing her hands she felt so hopeless, they thought they were doing the right thing, allowing Nodoka to live happily with Genma. It was what she had wanted, choosing him over her parents. "Nodoka-chan." She said softly into the door. "Tell me about Ranma. What's he like? Did he turn out like you thought?"

"Ranma?"

"Yes Ranma dear. Can you open the door honey? So we don't have to talk through it?" There was a moment of silence before the door cracked open. Gently sliding the door open she found Nodoka just inside curled up against the cupboard of the sink. Kneeling down she took one of Nodoka's hands in her own and gently kneaded her fingers. "So tell me about Ranma. Is he a good boy?" Nodoka nodded at her question.

"I don't deserve him!" She suddenly chocked and started to cry harder.

"Nonsense, what could you possibly have done, not to deserve your own son? I'm sure he loves you just as much as you love him."

"How could he?" Nodoka's tear stained face turned towards her, eyes searching for something. "I let him go on that terrible trip with Genma! And he knows that I'm not really his mother. How could he love someone he didn't even remember until less than a month ago?"

Bringing her daughter into a hug she gently rocked her back and forth. She couldn't help but chew over this new information. She had been so sure Ranma was Nodoka's son. Could she just be saying odd things due to grief? Even though she was being emotional she seemed so lucid. Deciding to ignore it for now she continued to try and get her remaining daughters mind off her sadness. This should have been a happy day, not the horrible one it was turning out to be for Nodoka.

**X X X X X X**

On the second floor of the home Ranma was finding that the large soft reclining chair was better than floating in mid air, he was also very close to falling asleep. It was warm in the room that was furnished with large leather furniture. A huge couch was pressed against the wall and Shinji was lounging on it reading a newspaper. On the far wall from him and Shinji was a large television. The whole room seemed out of place with its modern furnishings.

Rin-ohki was on the floor happily playing with a small ball she had found. He had to smile at the joy she had playing with such a simply object. Heavy footsteps came down the hall and Masako walked in to fall into the couch next to Shinji. "I cleaned the path and swept up all the leaves." She said slowly and with her eyes closed.

"Good, after dinner I'll find something else for you to do." Shinji ruffled his paper and flipped to a new page.

"Um shouldn't I be doing something?" He asked, knowing that his new cousin was taking the fall for him made him feel guilty. Of course the fact that it was a girl who had to suffer for him made it all the worse.

"This is not her first overuse of her credit card Ranma." Meekly the girl groaned in agreement. "She was the one with the card, whether or not what she bought was for you, it was still her doing the buying."

"But." Shinji just went back to his paper not bothering to hear any complaints.

"What's that?" Masako asked pointing at Rin-ohki. The cabbit had hopped up on to the couch and was sniffing her.

"Her names Rin-ohki, she's my, uh pet." Unlike Ryo-ohki, his cabbit hadn't learned what that name meant and so didn't get offended by it. Soon enough the cabbit was being cuddled by his cousin who suddenly found a lot of energy to play with the cabbit. Rolling his eyes he still couldn't understand girls and their fascination with small furry animals.

Hiromi, he had learned the name on that _shopping_ trip, stepped into the room with a rather large and almost forced smile. "Masako, would you like to help me make dinner?" The girl in question raised her head up and gave the woman a baleful look.

"Grandma you know I can't cook."

"That's cause you never try." The woman said in what he picked up was a well worn routine. Hiromi sighed and turned to him. "How about you Ranma?"

"Me?" He blinked several times at the strange request.

"Dear, boys shouldn't be cooking." Shinji said from behind his paper.

"Nonsense, some of the best cooks in the world are men. Being able to feed yourself properly is one of the most important skills a young person can learn, boy or girl. Tell me have you ever cooked Ranma?" Hiromi asked.

"If I didn't learn to cook, I would have starved long ago."

"Well come on then." Before he could protest Hiromi had grabbed his arm and pulled him forcibly from chair. "Besides I want to spend some time with my long lost grandbaby!" She said happily and nearly skipped along. Behind him Rin-ohki freed herself from Masako's grasp and took off after him.

Hiromi wasted little time in pulling him down the steps then down the long hall and left turn to get to the kitchen. "Alright wash your hands and we can get started." Without waiting for an answer Hiromi went off and started to grab ingredients. Rin-ohki hopped into the room and curled up just to the side of the door to watch.

Stepping over to the sink he started to wash his hands as ordered. As the cool water cascaded over his hands he felt the sudden shift to female. 'Crap I forgot!' Quickly turning on the hot water he felt the sudden shift back to male and looked behind him to make sure Hiromi hadn't seen. Luckily she was busy grabbing things from the fridge and hadn't seen anything. 'Stupid curse!'

"Here we are! Could you cut these up for me?" Hiromi asked and set down several cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and some boneless chicken breasts. "Make sure you cut all of them evenly so they cook at the same rate."

"Sure." Grabbing an appropriately sized knife from the block he twirled it around his finger before smirking. Preparing to start chopping his hand was suddenly grabbed.

"Remember to wash them first dear."

"Oops, heh heh."

**X X X X X X**

A gentle nudging from her side rose Nodoka into the land of the awake. Opening her eyes she found her mothers smiling face.

"Are you feeling any better?" Hiromi asked and she nodded. While still eating out her heart she did feel better now that she had gotten it out. She also felt deeply nostalgic being in her old room, her old bed. Nothing had changed, they had kept it just like it was when she had left to be with Genma. She quickly ended that line of thought as it may bring her back to why she had ended up here again.

"Come on dear, dinner is ready." She was hungry, and being so she was unresistant as her mother helped her to her feet. "It's a good thing we got that makeup off you earlier, it'd be just a mess now. And you have such a pretty face dear, I'm surprised that you used so much." Smiling at the comment that she had heard many times before she redonned her kimono. Checking her hair in the full length mirror on a wall she made sure it was presentable before following Hiromi out the door.

Down the hall and steps before heading back in the same direction on the ground floor she mentally prepared herself for seeing her Niece for the first time in 17 years. The last time she had seen the girl had been three years old and she found herself wondering what kind of woman she had become. Hiromi departed off to the kitchen saying that she could handle the food. Taking a calming breath she stepped into the tea room. Seated at the table was her father and a girl she assumed was her niece, for a moment her breath caught at how much she looked like a younger Noriko.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been myself Father." She bowed her head and took an open seat.

"There is no reason to apologize. Masako do you remember your Aunt Nodoka?" Shinji said warmly.

"Hi Auntie." The girl smiled brightly.

"Masako-chan, I haven't seen you since you were very little, do you remember me at all?"

"I'm sorry I don't."

"Well that's alright, Mother told me earlier that you spent some time with Ranma. Did you two have fun?"

"We did, when he wasn't being such a stick in the mud about something silly."

"Here's dinner!" Hiromi announced, cutting into the conversation and walking in. In her hands was a large dish loaded with food. Behind her, she was surprised to find, was Ranma carrying two of his own. "Thank you Ranma, have a seat, I can handle the rest." Ranma nodded and sat down next to her. His cabbit hopping over to sit next to him.

"Ranma did you help cook?" She asked, noticing that he had some small spots of food on his clothing.

"Yea." He said and looked nervously down at the plate in front of him. For her part she played with the sleeve of her kimono. Resisting the urge to make a comment about it's manliness. It wasn't proper for men to work in the kitchen, that was a womans job. Once it had passed she chose to make no comment. Hiromi returned carrying some more food and without much more conversation they started to eat.

**X X X X X X**

As the time limit on their visit drew to a close Ranma found himself in an awkward position. Nodoka had asked to stay the night, wishing to spend some time with Masako before heading back to the shrine the next day. He had no reason to distrust the three at the home but he didn't want to leave her. But he also didn't want to stay either. Katsuhito would be drilling him for missing out on so much work and he was sure there would be stuff to do around the house.

So saying his goodbyes, and receiving a pair of hugs from his cousin and grandmother he headed off carrying several bags filled with those new clothes Masako had forced upon him. It just seemed like bad manners not to accept them. Though that was no guarantee he would wear them. The place he had to walk to was work site just cleared for construction of some apartment building. Lazily tapping his foot he and Rin-ohki waited, sure enough Ryoko who must have been bored or in a hurry came flying in with Ryo-ohki in a vertical drop. Before he could even take a closer look at Ryo-ohki's ship form he was on it.

**X X X X X X**

Having returned home, a robot that had been left outside gave them instructions to come into the lab as soon as they had put their things away. All their belongings having been moved out into the living room. After quickly bringing all his old and new stuff into his new room Ranma head back into Washu's lab, as per the orders, but found that his mother was nowhere to be found. Sure he was a bit earlier than everyone else, but he had expected her to be impatiently tapping her foot waiting for everyone to arrive. 'Oh well, must be off messing with whatever she wanted to show off.' On his shoulder Rin-ohki nodded.

Off to the right was another door and he assumed that it must be where she was at. He was about to walk over when he noticed that Washu's mid air laptop was still open. Strangely enough he could just make out his name written vertically on the left side of the screen. Curiosity waged with apprehension over how Washu might retaliate if he snuck a peak. Then again it was his name on the screen, so it was something about him.

Well that settled it in his mind, it was something about him, it was visible, it would be her fault if some passerby saw it. Without a sound he floated over and sat down on the cushion to take a look. On the screen was what looked like tabbed folders. His name being the highlighted one, on the tab above it was Ryoko's name, below his was Ryo-ohki and then Rin-ohki.

Starting to read his file, he found most of it was filled with stuff he didn't understand. It seemed to start at the beginning and he quickly noticed a list of tests that he was apparently supposed to have been put through but listed off to the side of each was the word 'Unneeded'. Coming to the end of what was on the screen he saw that there was a half written line of words just going off screen. Never having touched a human computer he was a bit lost on how to find out more on this much more advanced on.

Examining the keyboard portion he had a bit of trouble figuring out what was which since most didn't have anything on them but in the lower left corner were a set of four keys with arrows on them. Pushing each he was rewarded when he hit the down of the screen scrolling to show more text. Pleased with himself he started reading again. Mostly skimming through the information without paying that much attention, he was about to stop when he noticed something that caught his eye.

_'Creation of the current test subjects code names Ryoko and Ryoto respectively, has gone as planned. Preliminary tests done to measure their mental capacity as weapons has not. The original mandate from the Galaxy Police made clear that the subjects should possess limited emotional response to stimuli. Unfortunately both display all the normal behaviors of infant children. Our best efforts at erasing such behaviors at the genetic level has proven fruitless. This problem was believed to have been solved with the previous batch, who while unfit to use the gems showed the proper mental state that we had been looking for. _

_My associate, Dr. Clay, has suggested developing a device that will resonate with the frequency of the gems allowing for complete control over the subject. I disagree with this approach at this time. We will have to wait till they are mature in form and have been raised with the elimination of emotions in mind before implementing such a device._

_At this time I must put subject Ryoto into semi permanent stasis. Sharing nearly an exact genetic makeup with Ryoko there is little reason for us to use both. He'll be kept as a control in case something were to go wrong with the main experimental subject Ryoko. In this way he'll be fulfilling his intended role. Allowing him to mature has been ruled out, should the upbringing of Ryoko prove adverse to the goals of the project, then changes will be made for Ryoto.'_

There was more but he didn't feel like reading anymore. Washu had made no secret that she had created him and Ryoko as experiments before being arrested by the Galaxy Police. He was actually at peace with that fact, even felt somewhat special over it. But she had never said that she had made them to be unthinking weapons. That was little better than what Genma had been trying to do to him through all the years spent with him.

Added on to that was that he was a backup, Washu had never intended him to be anything more, if she hadn't done something against the law he would still be tucked away in her lab somewhere. He jumped and was instantly out of the cushion when the small wooden crab next to the entrance clacked, signaling someone was entering. Sighing in relief he found that it was just the other occupants of the house, minus Washu.

"See I told you he went in here." Ryoko said to Tenchi. "See how untrusting, paranoid, and silly Ayeka is that she can't even trust me to answer a question truthfully." His sister purred while making small circles on Tenchi's upper arm.

"Liar! You didn't say Ranma-san was in here! You said he was off talking to Katsuhito-san!" Eldest princess of Jurai said hatefully and glared at Ryoko.

"Enough!" Washu announced appearing in the door he had seen earlier. "I am now ready to present one of my greatest inventions. If you would all please enter here."

Washu smiled and stood off to the side. Both Ryoko and Ayeka shared a mutually hate filled glares before trying to show the other who would take Tenchi through the door. Sasami and Mihoshi followed, Sasami carrying Ryo-ohki on her head. He hesitated in following, wondering if Washu had ever showed him and Ryoko off to a big group of people. Did she show them off like a couple of things, or like the pair of kids that they had been?

"Are you coming Ranma-chan?" Washu appeared before him and he nearly jumped from his skin with how easily she had got close to him. The girls green eyes shifted from him then to the computer next to him, he still hadn't moved far from it. "Have you been playing with my computer?" She said playfully then took a closer look at what was on the screen.

"Oh, I see you've found my original notes." Playful tone had diminished but wasn't gone. "How much did you read?"

"Enough to know that you wanted me and Ryoko to be emotionless weapons for the Galaxy Police." (4)

"Plans change." She said simply and made the laptop disappear. "Come on, we'll discuss it later." She grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards the door. Planting his feet he pulled his arm from her grasp.

"Yes, later _mother_." Stepping by her frozen form he moved to leave the lab, not wanting to be in it a minute longer.

**X X X X X X**

'Well there goes my great moment in the sun.' Washu thought sadly watching Ranma walk through the entrance. It didn't seem like he had read all that far, only enough to be angry. Not much she could do about it now, especially with her unveiling to do. She would let Ranma have his time alone and talk to him later. Stepping briskly through the door into the new room she passed everyone, who were milling about and viewing the machine with boredom.

Stepping up the small ramp to the large machine she waved her hands in a grand manner. Behind her was the half circle control panel and the tuners brain, a large sphere connected to wires that spread out in all directions around it. Surrounding everything was a tall cylinder that bowed out slightly in the middle to taper into a small point at the top.

"Welcome welcome welcome to the great unveiling of my newest and one of my most complex experiments to date! The Dimensional Tuner!" Waiting for the applause to die down she frowned when she noticed that everyone had only given her a few polite claps before stopping.

"What does it do?" Sasami asked.

"Cause and effect, time, matter it is all at the whim of my new machine!"

"What?" The group asked together.

"It allows travel between dimensions. Be it a set dimension or it finds the most suitable based on criteria that the user inputs. With all the possibilities that exist, there are infinite dimensions that this machine can take a person to. I am the first person to create a device allowing such travel! Isn't it wonderful that I'm sharing it with you first?" Smiling brightly she waited for applause but got none.

"Um thanks Washu-can." Tenchi said. "Well we better get back to putting everything away." Sighing in defeat she went off to sulk. This would never have happened if she had presented the device to reputable people. Scientific minds would weep in joy at the possibilities this machine held. There would be awards! Banquets in her honor! All lost!

Two people did stay however. Both Ayeka and Ryoko were plotting on how best to use this machine to send the other to another dimension. They both slowly started to laugh evilly before noticing each other. Glaring both took a step towards the machine at the same time. Ayeka's left eyebrow rose a tiny amount and Ryoko's eyes narrowed a fraction more. Another step forward in union, then another, and then a mad dash for the machine where they rapidly started to battle to input information into the computer.

"Out of the way!" Ryoko yelled and started to rapidly hit buttons. "I need to make the world free of Ayeka! Just for me and Tenchi!"

"You what!? How dare you!"

"Oh and what were you planning on doing?" Ryoko asked while hitting buttons causing Ayeka to sputter.

"Well I, I would never do that to you! I was just, well it was."

"Ooh what's this button?" Mihoshi had suddenly appeared and pushed several flashing buttons.

"Ahh what are you doing?!" Ryoko screamed and pushed the blonde away to hit more buttons.

"I won't allow you to get away with this!" Ayeka hit Ryoko and started to hit more buttons. Up above everyone the Dimensional tuners spherical body swiveled between the people below it trying to analyze the mass amount of data that was being inputted into its interface. Sparks started to shoot from one of its side when Mihoshi hit several more buttons.

**X X X X X X**

Roughly shoving another piece of clothing into his new dresser Ranma quickly crumbled up the bag and threw it into the small trash can in a corner. He didn't care that it was on the other side of the room and it had landed dead center. Added on to his troubles was the fact that he was starting to notice something.

Rin-ohki had sent him a small amount of information earlier and he had been nearly overwhelmed by the amount of excess information. Distances, between objects, their dimensions, even some stuff that he didn't even know what to do with. But now just sitting in his room he had noticed that he was doing something similar.

Across the room to the trashcan from him was 4.31 meters, the width of the room was 3 meters, length was 4 meters, height was 2.5 meters. The dresser was 1.40 meters high with a depth of 40 centimeters and exactly 1 meter wide. Rubbing his eyes he tried to stop thinking about it. When it was just background he could ignore it but if he concentrated he could almost see numbers floating everywhere. (5)

Frowning at the clock sitting on the dresser, then past it and out the window to the rapidly darkening hillside. The location of his new room was in the back of the house directly next to the greenhouse. It was larger than he needed but compared to the closet he was living in before this room was huge. He was thankful for the window, but wished that it would afford a better view of the stars. Washu had been thorough with her planning, while he had a large futon to sleep on, she had also included a smaller thickly padded bed for Rin-ohki.

"Wanna head downstairs?" He asked and she hopped over to sit on his head. Phased through the floor to float down slowly into the kitchen. He was just about to touch down when the house was rocked by an earthquake. Objects in the cubbards rattled but nothing fell. Floating in mid air he was immune to the effects and it was a weird to watch an earthquake without actually feeling the effects.

As quickly as it started it stopped. Looking around for a moment he set down and walked out into the living room. "Hey, what's going on?" He asked Tenchi and Sasami. The little girl was busy clutching on to Tenchi for life.

"Sasami-chan was scared from the earthquake." Tenchi rubbed the small girls back before looking up at him but then his eyes went to the new entrance to Washu's lab. Like before the house was rebuilt there were steps in the living room that went to the second floor. Only now they had an enclosed bottom to them and the door to Washu's lab in the same position under them as they did before.

"So why didn't you come and see Washu's invention earlier?" Tenchi asked as he sat down on the railing to the steps, balancing easily.

"Well, it just reminded me, ya know that me and Ryoko are experiments. And when I thought about it, I wondered if Washu had ever shown us off like that. I guess I just didn't want to think about it." Frowning he tried to figure out if he had actually explained himself properly. It'd help if he actually understood just why he had gotten angry earlier.

"Ya know I think I understand, when we went to move in my dad I got to see him with Rea-san. All I could think about was how I remember him and mom. Seeing him with someone else just made me think of her." Tenchi said sadly and developed a weird smile.

"But at the same time, I'm happy that he doesn't have to be alone." As soon as Tenchi finished another quake hit this time larger than the first but it stopped as soon as it started. "Um, I don't really remember ever having an earthquake around here. And that didn't feel like an aftershock."

Looking around from where he had fallen on the floor, Ranma became aware of an odd sensation as if the air around him was being charged with electricity. "What was it that Washu made and where is everyone else?"

"Maybe we should check it out, cause I think the others stayed inside, and Mihoshi doesn't seem like someone to leave around any technology." Tenchi said slowly and looking worriedly at the door.

**X X X X X X**

Washu pouted as she walked through her live specimen area. Why couldn't people respect and admire her work to the extent that she deserved? She paused midstep when she noticed that a small fish like creature popped into existence in front of her. Blinking she looked down at it before it suddenly popped out of existence. 'That was different.' Suddenly everything shook as if a giant earthquake had just hit her lab. 'But this is subspace, there isn't any tectonic plates to collide and cause an earthquake. What would have the power to rattle an area of subspace? Oh no! My machine!'

Willing a door to the Dimensional Tuner room she ran through it and stopped at the site. Somehow everyone had returned and aside from Tenchi, Ranma and the cabbits were now taking turns and battling for a position to input data on the controls.

"STOP!" Running up, her shout caused the chaos to end and she stared in horror at the blinking controls. "You idiots!" She shouted when the tuners control sphere suddenly jerked and shot sparks over everyone. "It's out of control." Jumping up she grabbed the spherical body and started to rip out wires trying to stop the resonance cascade that was starting. (5)

Around her the machines main body started to hum as it started to fully engage. 'WHAT WAS I THINKING LEAVING THIS THING ALONE WITH THESE PEOPLE!?' She yelled at herself and popped open the top of the sphere. Everything in it was fried, she had no way to stop it without a complete rebuild.

The lights in the machine started to increase in intensity and looking down at her hands she saw that a quickly spreading field of visible possibilities were expanding out from the control. Turning back to the group she found that everyone was staring in horror at her.

"Listen up! The controls are gone and the machine is activated, that means there are no set destinations. Don't worry though, as soon as I fix this I'll be able to track down everyone and return you here. So wherever you end up just stay safe and I will find you. Though there is a slim chance we may end up drifting through entangled space for all eternity." She said that last part as quietly as possible. When she had finished the tuner kicked in fully blinding everyone.

**X X X X X X**

Groaning Ranma sat up, holding his face in his hands he tried to stop the world from spinning. Beside him he could hear Rin-ohki hopping around and making worried miyah noises. "I'm fine Rin, just need, ugh." Slowly crawling his way up a nearby wall. Resting his back against it he was slowly starting to feel better. Pushing off from the wall he wavered on his feet before finding his equilibrium. Rin-ohki took the opportunity to jump up his body until she was sitting on his shoulder.

"Miyah?"

"Good question." Looking around he tried to figure out where he was. First thing was that he was still in Japan. The next was that it looked like Nerima again. Specifically the part where Nodoka's house was. But everything was slightly different. He couldn't put his finger on what exactly but there was something. It was also really hot out, even though it was early morning.

Getting his bearings as best he could he took off in the direction of his adopted mothers home. She had said she would be staying with the Miyake's and so wouldn't be home for another day or two. But she wouldn't begrudge him if he slipped in and used the phone.

It didn't take long to get to the gate and he was about to slip through it and enter but stopped when he heard voices. There was Nodoka's, Akane's, and two feminine ones that he couldn't remember hearing before. 'Maybe this isn't the right place? But then why would mom be here? Oh well might as well just ask.' Knocking on the door he heard one of the strange female voices say 'just a minute'. Letting off a big yawn he rubbed his eyes to try and get some of the gunk out of them. 'Man whatever Washu had going in her lab must have been big to shoot me halfway across the country.'

The door before him opened briskly and he quickly quit rubbing at his face to look forward. Boy and girl stood staring at one another. Across from him was a girl he had seen reflected back at him a hundred times. Bright red hair held back in a high ponytail with a white ribbon, wearing a pair of green shorts and a loose white tshirt.

"Who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who?" Sounding like an owl his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and darkness claimed him.

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes.

I'm going to include a house plan of the Miyake home in the forum as well as a couple pictures displaying the locations and design of the rebuilt Tenchi home. (Saving me from having to describe it)

Everyone except for Shinji is named after Ranma ½ voice actors.

Masako spent a little over 1200, she'll be doing a lot of sweeping to make up for it too. Some of you may be wondering why I am bothering bringing in a bunch of characters that I wont be doing much with for the foreseeable future. Well they'll be coming back later after a certain big thing is taken care of. Please check the forum for a post describing the characters in a bit more detail.

And for those wondering what happened to Shampoo, well Washu took care of her.

Ranma is actually a good cook. Book 23 chapter 7. And as I've had him say, if he couldn't cook he would have starved. With how petty and greedy Genma is, does anyone think that he would share food with Ranma once he was deemed old enough to find his own?

(1) Ryoga calls Ranma-kun just Ranma while Ranma-chan Ranma-san.

(2) Same bath as in Tenchi Universe episode 5. Since I am not going to have the floating bathhouse of doom.

(3) With how badly canon Ranma reacts when anyone questions his masculinity, it leads me to believe that the change is that complete. First Kuno tells Ranma he loves her and she freezes up completely. Then when Ryoga comes in and insults him by calling him a girl for caring about his shirt, it nearly drives him into a rage. Then the ultimate being that Mikado actually kisses her and Ranma runs away crying to come back as a male saying he is angry for the first time in his life.

Now before anyone mentions that Ranma right after running away is worried that Akane saw it all. At that point in the manga he's trying to figure out how to do a relationship past friendship. There were no other women trying to get his attention and Akane actually treats him better than Genma, the person he has been around for 10 years.

And even friendship is a strange commodity to him. The only two we ever learn of him having were Ukyo and Ryoga after all. And Ryoko is a bit of a stretch on that front. It makes more sense to me that Ranma was actually angry that he had felt a 'girlish' emotion, which threatened his thoughts towards Akane. As well as the how he normally feels about guys.

This of course contradicts what a lot of people write which is that the body changes but the mind stays the same. Um yea that's all well and good for personality, which I don't think changes, but physically for all the other curses a persons mind would have to change, how else would a human brain fit inside a pig, cat, or duck skull? (Genma doesn't count since his brain has obviously atrophied without use.) So why would Ranma have it any different? He did fall into the 'spring of drowned girl', not 'spring of drowned girl with mind of boy.'

(4) I still haven't told the whole story. Well, when have I ever just came out and gave out all the details?

(5) I've been thinking about this for a while now. Seems to me that in order for Ryoko or in this case Ranma to be able to pass through objects or teleport they would have to instinctively known where they were, how dense they are, what materials they are, and tiny details that aren't needed in everyday life. A mental recreation of everything around them. They get it from Washu who I'm sure the ability to instantly know details of anything she looks at came in very handy.

(6) Half life reference, seemed appropriate for what was about to go down.

And now it's time for crossovers YEA! WOO! Bleh, problem being is that I don't want to ruin the other stories. Two crossovers will be to fanfic universes, a tv show, and well I don't want to give too much away. I'm going to try my best and make the chapters stand on their own without having to have read or seen what I am crossing over with. But I will post in my forum a new thread listing all of them as well as links to read the fanfics. For those who would actually like to read and get the full stories.

I won't be posting that for a few days though so if you can figure out which fanfic world Ranma got sent to, I'll have to think of something to give or do for you. Maybe do some kind of artwork or color a manga page or something. It's a fic from 00 so it's fairly old and I didn't give much so I didn't make it easy.


	13. No Need for Yourself

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

(telepathy between Washu, Ryoko, Ranma, and cabbit)

The characters from Genma's Daughter and their circumstances are used with the permission of the author Debra Goldsmith. (She actually saw it the other day) If you have not read it I fully recommend that you do. I tried to give a few summaries but they hardly do an adequate job and I'm not trying to tell the story within 2-3 chapters. A link is in my forum to information on all the fics and crossovers used.

I've purposely left an error in this. Can you figure it out? Not to say it's the only error. A good deal of dialog goes on in this chapter. Think time.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma came into awareness with the pleasant feeling of someone running their fingers gently through his hair. Opening his eyes he found himself staring up at the face of Nodoka. He sighed in relief, feeling that he must have been having a bad dream before. The sudden feelings from Rin-ohki though were telling him that he may be wrong about that. Bringing his hands up to take the cabbit off of his chest he resisted trying to get information from her, lest she overload him again.

"Are you alright?" Nodoka asked nervously as he sat up, noticing the other occupants of the room. He recognized Ryoga from their encounter about a week prior. Akane, the youngest Tendo girl was here as well. Each of them looked like how he remembered them, but there was still something off about them. The final occupant to the room was the one that caught and held his eye.

Sitting between Akane and Ryoga was a girl wearing the body that he had come to know as his cursed form. At least the one he had before being changed again. She had changed her clothes and now wore a pleated black skirt and a fitting green sleeveless top. Her hair was now falling freely down her back and he could see she was wearing some simple earrings, a heart shaped necklace, and a ring on one of her fingers.

"Who?" His mouth refused to function as he looked at Nodoka for answers. The Saotome woman looked lost for a moment. Looking at her he started to notice that she looked different. She looked slightly older and her clothing wasn't the same expensive kimono that he had come to know but a far simpler design.

"Ranma is it?" Nodoka asked after regaining her wits and he nodded. "This may come as a shock, but it seems you have traveled to an alternate reality." Blinking several times he then moved to look at the people sitting around him again. Ryoga seemed indifferent to the situation while the two females were trying to look reassuring.

A feeling of panic started to rise and it felt like his chest was seizing up. Starting to scoot away his eyes darted between each one looking for any signs of aggression. 'A different reality? Is that what that machine was?' Asking Rin-ohki for information his eyes glazed over for a moment as he was assaulted with information. 'She sent us to different dimensions?! What kind of psycho creates something that will do that?!'

"No one's going to hurt you, please try and calm down." Nodoka edged towards him and he tried slow his breathing. Calming down he found that he couldn't take his eyes off the red head, and his gaze seemed to be making her uncomfortable. Raising a hand he pointed at her.

"Who is she?" He asked hoping that she wasn't who he thought.

"I am Saotome Ranko." The girl said pleasantly and bowed her head slightly. Breathing out he visibly relaxed. It wasn't him, so if this was a parallel world Nodoka must have had a kid rather than adopting. That was simple enough, he just didn't exist here.

"How about we all introduce ourselves." Nodoka said and gave him a big smile. "I am Saotome Nodoka, Ranko's mother."

"I'm Tendo Akane."

"I'm Hibiki Ryoga." Already knowing their names he nodded politely to each. Which just left him and he was about to start off with Saotome when his mind flashed back to his Nodoka telling him about Genma engaging him to multiple women, using his name for bills, and who knows what else.

"Uh I'm Hakubi Ranma." He bowed his head. "I guess." He finished under his breath.

"Hakubi? You aren't a Saotome?" Ranko asked.

"Well I was, but I found out recently that Genma did a bunch of stupid stuff with my name. So I'm taking my Moms name." Shrugging he found that Nodoka's face darkened considerably at the comment.

"I guess I should explain what I know right? I suppose this is all Washu's fault, she's like a super genius or something and she made some machine that apparently could go through dimensions. Something went wrong and I guess I ended up here. She said she'd get it fixed and find everyone, and with how fast she works it'll probably be sometime this afternoon."

"Wow, that's more than I knew when I went to that other world." Ranko said.

"What? Another world?" Having Rin-ohki hop into his lap he started to pet her as he asked the question. He was happy that his partner had come along. Otherwise he would probably be panicking right now. He had promised never to let her be alone again.

"Three months ago I had my own little alternate reality adventure. Turned out that a guy named Kuno Tatewaki made a wish where a male Ranma and female Ranma had to appear together to prove him right."

"Wait, you mean there's another Ranma with a curse?" The idea that there was another Ranma out there who had to deal with turning into a girl made him feel slightly better that he wasn't the only one having to suffer. Pausing he rewound what he had just said. Brain reloaded he slapped his hands over his mouth.

"You've been to Jusenkyo too?" He was surprised when both Ranko and Ryoga asked that question. Ranko since she was a girl and he doubted Genma would have taken a girl on a training trip. And Ryoga since he didn't think even he would get that lost. Dropping his hands he stared down at the floor.

"Yea."

"What do you turn into?" Ryoga asked, now far more interested in the conversation.

"It's a girl isn't it?" Akane added and gave Ryoga an odd look. "It's just the way you said it." Ranma was a little shocked that they had figured it out so fast. The only other person he knew that had a curse was Genma, so did these people know about Jusenkyo from that? Or were there more people with curses around?

"And why do you have c cat ears?" Ranko asked and he was confused again over how she said that. It was eerily similar to how he would have said it.

"I guess you already know about curses, so yea I turn into a girl. And about my ears, well it was one of Genma's most idiotic moments and it only happened recently. It's weird but up until a few days ago when in my cursed form, I looked a lot like you." He blushed at that, feeling a bit perverted over having had the same body as the girl sitting in front of him. And also hoping that she didn't get angry over it.

"So does Genma have a curse or someone else that you know?" He asked getting over his nervousness when Ryoko-like violence didn't erupt.

"Yes Father does, he turns into a panda. Ryoga also turns into a girl." Ranko answered. "You seem to be taking this really well, when I traveled everyone was going crazy until we figured out what had happened."

Shrugging he continued to try and ignore the weird feeling this girl was giving him. "Well in the past month I've learned a few things that were weirder and harder to accept than a different dimension."

"Miyah?"

"No you're not weird Rin."

"Did you just talk with that, whatever it is?" Akane asked.

"Oops." Scratching the back of his head he reminded himself to be more discrete. Shinji had nearly found out, just the day before. "Well I guess if you can handle curses and different realities this wont be so weird. But me and her are sort of linked. We can talk to each other."

"So she's like a pet?" Ryoga asked.

"No, more like partners, at least that's the way Washu described it."

"Fascinating." Akane said with nods from the others. At this moment his stomach made notice that it hadn't been fed in some time by growling loudly.

"Would you like some food young man?" This realities Nodoka asked and stood up.

"Sure I guess." Laughing nervously he saw that Akane and Ryoga had rolled their eyes while Ranko had developed an odd smile on her face. Once again he felt that there was something he should know about the girl.

**X X X X X X**

In an incredibly distant part of the galaxy from Earth in another reality, flew a living space ship, a Leviathan called Moya. Traveling through the uncharted territories, it's crew of escaped convicts and fugitives from the Peace Keepers was sitting down for dinner.

Or what John Crichton figured passed as dinner for alien life forms. Small rectangular cracker like objects that tasted like cardboard but supposedly provided nutrition were the main course. Chewing slowly he stared off out of a window at the vast expanse of space that was passing by. It was incredible, here he was, just your average human, on a living spaceship among aliens.

Sure Aeryn Sun looked like a human but she was really a Sebacean, other than her inability to handle high temperatures and the fact that she made the Marines he knew look like undisciplined civilians, she could easily have been mistaken for human.

Ka D'Argo, the Luxan warrior, who for some reason reminded him of a human squid with the tentacles that came off the back of his head. Gruff and demanding, he was the kind of guy you wanted on your side if things went wrong. And things had already gone wrong several times now with no clear end in sight. Of course while he was great to have around for combat, he was a horrible conversationalist and would usually end up hissing at him.

The blue skinned Pau'u Zotoh Zhaan, specialized in healing and the spiritual. She was a mystery just as much as everyone else here was. But unlike the others, she was calm and understanding to his plight of being woefully under prepared for the world he now found himself.

Happily grubbing up more than his share of food was the great Dominar Rygel the 16th, a Hynerian who due to his short stature floated on top a throne allowing him to fly around and be at the head height of the others on the ship. Other than Pilot who resembled a large blue crustacean, Rygel was the most nonhuman species on the ship, looking like a two foot tall frog. Greedy and tricky, John made sure to keep his distance and the few belongings he had from the little toad. Already the little creep had tried to pick through his stuff.

"Ya know, I never thought I would miss the cold gruel that they served us back on Earth." He said offhand earning a laugh from Rygel.

"HAHA, back when I was Dominar I would be feasting on Hynerian marjools! Now those are a delicacy, worthy of my excellence!" More short barking laughter followed his highnesses proclamation.

"Sorry to disappoint your _eminence_." D'Argo sneered.

"Excuse me, but there is something that I need to bring to your attention." Pilot's voice appeared as did his blue colored hologram in the clam shell like device mounted on the wall. "But Moya has detected an anomaly in the cargo bay, I have already dispatched several DRDs and they reported that someone has gotten on Moya without us noticing."

"But how is that possible Pilot?" Zhaan asked.

"We do not know, but it appears to be a male Sebacean, he is currently unconscious. DRDs are already monitoring but he is unresponsive."

"Thank you Pilot." Standing up he snagged one more foodcube "I'll go check it out."

"I as well." D'Argo stood up and shouldered his qualta blade. Aeryn followed without a word.

"I'll head to command and see if I can find out how he got on board." Zhaan said and they all went off to do their tasks, except for Rygel who chose to stay behind and horde the foodcubes. Some spy or something from Crais no doubt. Seriously why couldn't that guy see that it was an accident that had taken his brothers life and stop chasing him?

"How do you think someone got on board?" D'Argo asked drawing his blade as they neared the door.

"How should I know, I'm just the dumb Earthling remember? But we finally caught a break. Maybe we can even find out some information on what the Peacekeepers are doing out in the uncharted territory and how to avoid them."

"Something about this doesn't seem right. A Peace Keeper spy would not simply be found napping on the job. Forgetting that we have no clue how he even got on board. Our last stop was over 15 solar days ago. Why has he not alerted Crais? Why has he not attempted to sabotage the ship at all?"

"All good questions, so let's go find out." He sighed and entered the cargo bay. Conveniently enough their unwelcomed guest was laying in the middle of the floor on his back.

"He does not look like a Peace Keeper to me." Aeryn said and while kneeling down to move the boys face from side to side and holstering her pistol."And his clothing is unfamiliar, a spy would use common clothing."

"Hold on." Getting down next to the boy he noticed the Earth clothing right away. Blue jeans and a white button up long sleeve shirt, surprisingly enough he wasn't wearing any shoes, just a pair of socks. "These clothes look like they're from Earth."

"But he does not look like you, his features are different. I thought you said you had only one species on your planet." Aeryn added.

"We do, but there are certain groups that look different. This kid looks like he's Asian but I'm not sure which country."

"If he is from your home planet, how is he here?" D'Argo asked looking suspiciously at the kid. "This is too convenient, I say we wake him up and interrogate him."

"Hold on there big guy, he's not even wearing shoes. What spy or fighter goes out alone with no weapons or even all their clothing?"

"We do not know if he is alone and he could even be dressed that way as a diversion." Aeryn pointed out and struck the kids face several times. "Wake up." The kid was instantly sitting up and with a qualta blade pointed at him. Stepping in the way John pushed the blade away.

"Easy." He hissed and turn to the frightened kid. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The kid continued to look around and didn't seem to understand.

"Where am I? Who are you people?" The boy asked.

"Do you understand me?" He asked and got no recognition. "Pilot! Can you have a DRD do that translator microbe thing?"

"As you wish." Pilots voice came through the communicator on his vest and a DRD quickly moved up and stabbed the kids exposed foot injecting the miracle language devices. Before any of them could blink the boy had jumped away and had grabbed metal rod and was now holding it like a sword.

"Easy easy! We aren't going to hurt you." Trying to get Aeryn and D'Argo to stop from shooting and stabbing the boy where he stood he hoped those microbes would kick in soon. "We just wanna talk, can you understand me?"

"I, I can, how can I?" The boy said confused.

"Those are the translator microbes, they let you speak alien languages. It's what you were injected with." He explained as the two trigger happy residents lowered the weapons by a fraction of an inch. "Who are you? How did you get here? And most importantly, are you from Earth?"

"I'm Masaki Tenchi, I don't know where here is, and yes I'm from Earth. Uh where is here?"

"How bout we all put our weapons down? See I told you, he looked like he was from Earth. I'm John, John Crichton, these are my friends Ka D'Argo and Aeryn Sun. And we don't want to hurt you or you to hurt us. Alright so everyone just put your weapons down." Gently he laid his hand on Aeryn's pistol and tried to point it away from the kid. There was no way he was about to touch D'Argo's blade. Across from them the boy did the same. 'God did he hate being the voice of reason.'

**X X X X X X**

Ryoko sat up and stretched, feeling like she had gotten a good nights sleep, well as good as someone can sleep after being forcibly shoved through the walls that kept the dimensions apart. Opening her eyes she found Ryo-ohki laying at her side. 'Ah just like old times.' Looking around she found that she was sitting on a rooftop in a human city.

Teleporting over to a ledge she stood with her hands on her hips and looked around. Questioning Ryo-ohki about what she knew she found out that it was approximately 7pm. 'That's weird, it's not cold out anymore.'

"You hungry?" She asked as the cabbit ran up and jumped up on the ledge next to her.

"Miyah!" Her partner cried happily and nuzzled her leg. Reaching down and snagging the cabbit by the scruff of her neck she deposited Ryo-ohki on her shoulder.

"Let's go get us some grub, then we can see what kind of trouble we can get into." Smiling mischievously she fell forward off the building. 'I wonder if there's anyone fun in this reality, without anyone to bug me about being all secretive for the humans. Boo hoo! Like it even matters if some insignificant planet finds out what everyone else already knows.' (1)

**X X X X X X**

"Wow this is really good." Ranma licked his lips as he ate. Akane had left to return home, which he was thankful for. In his reality the Akane he knew hadn't been his favorite person. Not that he hated her but she had tried to publicly humiliate him for reasons he didn't know. Ryoga was still hanging around for some reason and hovered protectively next to Ranko. Occasionally giving him a dark glance.

"Thanks Nodoka-san." He said to the alternate to his adopted mother, trying to be polite. Next to him Rin-ohki had been given several carrots and was happily making them disappear.

"Please, while you're here feel free to call me what you do in your own reality. But you should really be thanking Ranko-chan, she's the one who made it." Nodoka answered.

"Really? You're a real good cook." He smiled at the girl and ate some more.

"Thank you, Ranma." She said and returned the smile. His own diminished a bit over how eerily familiar that smile seemed. It wasn't anything that she was doing but Ranko was setting him on edge, like there was some kind of secret he was being left out on.

"Ranko-chan are you all packed for the trip tomorrow?" Nodoka asked and refilled his drink.

"Yes, I'm already, and I remembered to pack light. I finished packing just before Ranma showed up so I could relax or maybe get some practice in before I go to watch Miki at 2, Noriko-san has to go to a doctors appointment." Ranko answered and sipped some tea.

"Ryoga-kun you were saying earlier that you had something to do, is that right?" Nodoka had finished serving everyone and had sat back down.

"Actually I have a job interview at one." Ryoga shared a smile with Ranko. "Well it's not really an interview but there's a dojo that needs help and the master there wants to gauge my skill."

"That's wonderful Ryoga-kun, I'm sure you'll get it, I'm always impressed by you three when you practice."

"Thank you Mom. It'll be good experience for when I take over my own dojo. I'll be busy early in the morning and then when school starts, it will be in the afternoons."

"So where you guys going? And I thought you were a Hibiki?" Ranma asked and broke up the pleasant moment they were having. He was interested in where they were going, maybe it was by Okayama and he could tag along. But that Mom comment was weird, did this Nodoka adopt Ryoga? He hadn't introduced himself as Saotome.

"Oh sorry dear, you see we have a trip planned to a beach house in Ibaraki. We were supposed to head out tomorrow morning but I don't know. We can't exactly leave you by yourself as things are now." Nodoka said and looked over at Ranko. The girls face scrunched up in thought.

"I'm sorry I didn't even think of it. I'll call Yuka and Sayuri, Sis said she would be back later so I'll ask then, and I can stop by Ucchan's after babysitting Miki."

"Well it's up to you dear. I know how hard it was to find a time for everyone to go again."

"Wait ask them what?" He asked not paying much attention to who Ranko was talking about.

"It was supposed to be a girls only trip but I don't see how we could leave you by yourself at a time like this. And this is the only week we could get before school starts up again. We would have to wait until next summer before we could possibly do it again." Ranko answered.

"Ranko?" Ryoga looked hurt over the offer.

"Ryoga, come on let's go talk." Ranko grabbed Ryoga's hand and pulled him outside.

"Thanks I guess but I can just head off and see if anyone else I know exists here. Really Washu is really good with her science stuff so she'll probably be here any minute now." He said to Nodoka as the woman looked worriedly at the door Ranko and Ryoga had left.

"I hope so dear but really you don't have to do anything, you're welcome to stay until then. How about you tell me about the other me? When Ranko-chan came back from her own trip it was interesting to learn about the differences between us."

"Sure I guess." He said as he finished off his plate.

**X X X X X X**

"Ranko, what are you doing inviting him? You hardly know him?" Ryoga asked and crossed his arms.

"I'm really sorry Ryoga, please, it's just whenever I look at him I get taken back to when I was in that other world and how lonely I felt."

Hugging herself at the memory of seeing everyone she knew and loved treat her like a stranger, she wondered what this Ranma was feeling and how he would react at finding out that she had been this realities Ranma. "I would have been crushed if they had acted like I wasn't there, like I didn't exist. I'm just trying to include him so that he doesn't feel that."

"But he's not you." Ryoga said softly and wrapped his arms around her.

"I know, but at the same time he is. I can just tell, you saw how he looks at me. Somehow he knows too."

"Even so, how can you be sure he's trustworthy?" Sighing she pulled herself closer to Ryoga.

"Please Ryoga, it's something I want to, no have to do. It's not like we're going to be changing in front of him. But we can't just leave him here. Please try to understand that just knowing how he might feel tears me up." Pulling away enough, she stared up into his soft brown eyes. "Can you do that?

"I still don't like it. And it was bad for me too, you just up and disappeared one day." He pulled her back close into his body. "I thought, we thought, we had lost you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily." She joked and played with the engagement ring, the first that she had ever chosen for herself.

"I'd never want to either."

"Did you want to go? I'm sorry that I never asked, I just assumed you wouldn't want to be around all of us girls."

"I can't, if I get the job I'll start tomorrow morning. Besides I bet that Ranma is just as much of a girl as you are and will like doing all that girl stuff." Ryoga joked.

"You better be careful or I'll start including you in all that girl stuff." She smiled and squeezed him tighter, not wanting to let go.

"I need to go." Ryoga said softly and gave her one last squeeze before they broke apart. "I'll see you for dinner."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He said and they shared a quick kiss.

**X X X X X X**

When Ranko and Ryoga returned holding hands, Ranma couldn't help but frown. Once again he felt weird about this girl and Ryoga being in a relationship. He wasn't very good with that kind of stuff, even so he could tell they were very close.

"I'm going to go for my interview. Wouldn't want to be late." The lost boy said before bowing to him. "It was, nice, to meet you Ranma. Maybe later we can spar? I'm interested in seeing how strong you are."

"Sure that'd be great! I haven't been able to get a good spar in for a few days now." Now they were talking. This Ryoga didn't look like a slouch and he hadn't gotten any practice in recently.

"Good luck dear, I know you'll do great." Nodoka said as Ryoga left.

"Mother I'm going to go practice." Ranko said while waiting in the doorway.

"Alright dear, but make sure you don't lose track of time."

"I wont." The red head smiled and practically skipped off to go practice whatever it was she did.

"Ranma, would you mind if I saw your cursed form?" Nodoka asked then added hastily. "Not that I don't believe you, but I'm curious."

"Sure I guess." He mumbled and headed off towards the kitchen. While everything in the house was slightly different, most everything was in the same spot. Turning on the faucet he ran his hand and some of his arm under the cold water. One change of gender later, she returned to the tea room.

"I must say Ranma while you make a very handsome boy you are gorgeous as a girl." Nodoka said as she inspected her. "You have my hair in both forms." The Saotome woman said then smiled sadly. "Oh look at me, I'm doing exactly what Ranko said happened to the other me."

"I don't understand."

"The other me, she grew attached to Ranko. Although by now she should know the effect of Ranko's wish."

"A wish?"

"Amazingly enough she was given one wish from actual Gods. She saw how much they would miss her and she wished that they would be able to have their own Ranko."

"Really? Actual Gods?" Digesting that information she wondered exactly what she would wish for if given the chance. A cure sat high up on that list, but that felt too short term, too immediate. Surely Washu would eventually come up with something. Ranma had a suspicion that Washu just found the whole situation amusing.

"She didn't exactly think the wish through and I believe that the me there is now pregnant."

"Oh."

"Yes, her wish has probably caused a great deal of complications for the other me."

"Did the other me know about the wish? Wouldn't getting rid of his curse been better?" That was the million yen question. What was the reason his counterpart didn't ask for that?

"You'll have to ask Ranko, I'm afraid she didn't go into enough detail for me to know. On the subject of curses, I suppose I should warn you that we usually refer to Ryoga as Ryoko when he is female. It just helps to avoid confusion."

"Ryoko?" She couldn't help but smirk.

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"Heh no, it's just that's my sisters name."

"You have a sister? What's she like?" The woman asked curiously.

"She's about the biggest tomboy you could ever meet. And lazy, all she does is lay around the house and eat all the food."

"That doesn't sound like someone I would have raised." Nodoka said sternly and frowned.

"Uh that is to say she isn't really that bad, she's just had a weird upbringing like me." Then again you don't seem to have much problems with traveling through dimensions so aliens might not be all that hard to accept.

"I see, I'm sorry, it's not my place to speak on how my counterpart raised her daughter. Even if I really don't approve."

"Nah it's alright, you don't really like how she acts that much either." One of his ears perked up as he started to hear music being played. Very soft and slowly at first but gaining. "What's that?" He asked Nodoka, the woman paused a moment and listened.

"That's Ranko-chan playing her violin. Would you like to go watch?"

"Sure I guess." Shrugging she followed Nodoka around back of the house and found Ranko sitting outside on the grass engrossed in playing an instrument. Her eyes were closed and she started to pick up the pace and volume as she played the violin. Taking a seat next to Nodoka they watched as the small girl played. Rin-ohki hopped up to sit in her lap, expecting to be petted.

Ranma had seen people play guitars and other instruments and had always associated instruments with strumming. Ranko though weaved notes together, mixing them all smoothly, one note flowing gently into another. Ranma was just starting to get into it when she cringed then winced, then had to raise her hands to cover her ears. Ranko's notes were quickly rising in pitch. (2)

Looking over to Nodoka to ask if she was supposed to play like that, she found the woman was actually enjoying it. Not wanting to do anything that might insult these nice people, she slipped away quietly with Rin-ohki. After putting several walls between her and the violin the sound no longer felt like nails on a chalkboard. Now that she wasn't about to lose her hearing she could tell that Ranko was very skilled in moving through the notes.

'Too bad she plays so high, who listens to stuff like that?'

Now in the hallway she started to look through some pictures on the walls. Most were groups with the people he had met today, also included were a pair of Akane's friends, some older women. Everyone in the pictures looked happy. Something she didn't remember from the pictures in his own Nodoka's house. Reaching the end she entered into a living room.

On a small table next to the couch was another picture this time of a woman wearing a wedding kimono and a young thin Genma in a gray. 'Wow, I really did look like Mom.' She thought looking at the red head in front of her. The red was a tad darker, closer to her own, than the red Ranko possessed, but the resemblance was uncanny. Having nothing better to do but continue her trip down photo lane, she slid over to some more that sat on a shelf.

The largest and most eye catching was a professional photograph with only Ranko, who was standing on a stage, illuminated by a spotlight. She was wearing a dark green formal gown that made her look absolutely stunning. She was frozen with her violin raised and bow resting just off the strings. The girl's eyes were closed, a serene smile on her face. Ranma had seen many pretty women, hell she was a very pretty one at the moment, but the Ranko in this picture beat all. But she couldn't really figure out why?

"You didn't like my playing, so you come to look at pictures of me doing it?" Jerking she nearly jumped into the air. Ranko was standing in the doorway, violin case in hand, a mischievous smile spread across her face.

"Uh that is, I was just." She stuttered, floundering for a response.

"Take it easy, I'm just joking." Setting the case down Ranko stepped over to look at what she had been looking at. "That's my favorite, I was lucky to get it. It's not professionally done, but there was a guy in the audience at the recital that is trying to be. He brought it over to me a few days later, so he could ask to use a copy as a portfolio piece. How could I not agree?" Ranko finished with a small amount of ego to her voice.

"It looks like we wont have to worry about people confusing us." Ranko continued while looking her up and down. "So why didn't you stay around while I practiced. I noticed you and Mother but you left pretty quickly." She asked.

"Well..."

"Don't be shy, I've taken criticism before."

"Ok, but, were you supposed to play so, high?"

"High? I don't remember playing any very high notes." Ranko gave him a confused look and cocked her head to one side. The girls eyes suddenly widened. "Your ears!" (2)

"What?!" Reaching up she covered them. 'Why do people keep reminding me about them? That's it, I swear next time I see Washu I'm going to get her to do something.'

"Sorry I just thought if they're shaped different, maybe they hear different." Ranma blink blinked and let her hands drop as she thought it over. Ever since her form had been changed again, there hadn't been a noticeable difference. "I remember playing in the park one day and there was a dog that wouldn't stop barking while I played. But would stop when I did."

"Maybe." It did make sense, maybe it was like how she could see distances and that other stuff. Something that was only noticed when you knew about it.

"I'll remember it the next time I play to stick to lower notes." Ranko gave her another big smile. "Sorry I can't stay but I need to go take care of Miki."

"Who's Miki?"

"Sorry again, she's a little girl that I've been babysitting for about half a year. I'll only be gone an hour."

"Alright." Shrugging she debated on putting a bet that Washu would be here before then. Ranko moved out of the room with a few quick steps, only pausing to wave and grab her violin case. Left alone she sat down on a couch. Picking up the tv remote she turned it on to flip through channels. It wasn't long before Nodoka appeared in the door way.

"Ranma, would you like anything to drink?"

"Nah I'm not really thirsty."

"Alright." Nodoka left once again but came back with a cup of iced tea. Sitting down on a chair she pulled out a book.

"Um." She started just before Nodoka opened her book and turned off the tv. The Saotome woman placed it in her lap and turned towards her.

"Yes dear?"

"I was just wondering, well I saw that picture of Ranko." She pointed towards the picture. "All dressed up and playing the violin for the, she called it a recital? And I just wanted to know why? I mean what can she do with it? Is it like a job?" She fidgeted under Nodoka's gaze, the woman thinking of a response.

"Ranko-chan is training to be a violinist. It's what she wants to do with her life. Her sensei has even given her an advanced piece to practice while away for next week. It's a very big commitment but she really loves it."

"So she's going to play the violin for a living?" Ranma wasn't sure how someone played an instrument like that for a living. Wasn't that just a hobby?

"Yes. It's only been about 6 months since she started but she's already rather well known. Do you have any plans for your future? School? Work?"

"Nah I don't really have any plan. Right now I work at a shrine, and it's kinda nice. But that's more of a temporary thing." The decision suddenly seemed very daunting. She wasn't exactly going to grow old and die in the next 100 years. She could be around for thousands of years, in fact she had been technically around for 2000. Would martial arts become boring? She already seemed to be moving away from it without Genma around to constantly hound her.

"No need to worry dear, you're still young. I'm sure you'll find something."

"Thanks, I think." Nodoka seemed to consider the matter closed by starting to read her book. Hitting the power button again on the remote the tv came back to life. Finding nothing interesting she was about to turn it off and maybe find a good place to take a nap when she stopped on an anime.

All the characters were simplified and animated but there was no mistaking Ryoko as she tried to take care of a baby, and in predictable fashion was failing miserably at it. Behind her was Mihoshi and suddenly Tenchi appeared on screen. It then moved to show Ayeka, all the characters even sounded like how she remembered. (3)

"What, what show is this?" She asked and slid up until her nose was nearly up against the screen. Rin-ohki sat looking between her and the tv confused over what the images meant.

"Hmm?" Nodoka looked up from her book. "I don't know, I don't watch animated shows. Is something wrong with it?"

"I, I know these people." She breathed out.

"If you've seen it why did you have to ask what show it was?"

"I've never seen it, these are, these are people they're who I live with." Her jaw dropped when Washu came into the show. Recovering she closed her mouth and watched intently as she started to take care of a baby.

"But that's just an animated show. It's not real." On the screen Washu had given the baby to the others and had returned to her lab. Once there she couldn't concentrate on her work to the point where she gave up and went to check on the baby again.

"Are you alright Ranma?" Nodoka asked as she watched Washu interact with the baby. "How strange, that looks like your pet." She added as a terrified Ryo-ohki tried to escape Sasami's grasp and get away from the baby.

"I, I'm fine." Wiping her eyes of the small amount of wetness, she felt the muscles in her chest seize up when the baby started to call Washu 'Momma'. With her diminutive mother answering sadly. 'No, no, little one. I'm not your mommy.'

"You don't look alright." Nodoka interrupted the moment.

"That's my mom." She pointed at Washu who had seemingly gotten over her sadness and was now happily working in the kitchen. "In my reality, you're my adopted mother and she is my real one." The scene shifted to show everyone but Sasami standing on the walkway, that had only the day before been constructed across the lake. Ranma ignored the world around her as Washu explained about the child she had lost and how she reverted her age to deal with the grief. "The last time I talked to her I said something, because I wanted to make her feel bad. I think if I had talked with her again I would have said worse."

"I'm not sure I understand. Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I thought she abandoned us!" She snapped and turned to stare at Nodoka. The woman froze up and didn't have anything in response. "Because we weren't what she wanted." She finished and turned back to the tv.

'Why am I not there?' No one seemed concerned that she wasn't there, was that in the future? Did something happen to her? Did she even exist? As the credits played she saw that the name was Tenchi Muyo Ryo-ohki. Feeling ashamed of herself for trying to hurt Washu feelings, she sat back and stared down at the floor. She had no clue why Washu really sent them out on their own.

"Is there a store I could go to? I need to see more, I need to know...why?" She asked and turned to Nodoka who she found looking sadly at her. "Is there a place?" She continued after not receiving a response.

"I'm sorry dear I was just thinking of something. Yes there is a shop I have passed by in the mall that might have it. Do you have any money?"(4)

Digging out her waterproof wallet from a back pocket, happy that it hadn't been burned away like the dragon whisker and her clothing. Popping it open she pulled out all the bills contained.

"I got 3500 yen. Where is the place?" Standing up, Rin-ohki quickly jumped up her side to sit down on her shoulder. 'Lucky I had it with me.'

"Let me grab my purse I'll take you."

"No!" She said a bit hastily taking Nodoka by surprise. "I can do it myself."

"Right, alright well you head outside the gate.."

**X X X X X X**

"And this is the cockpit, or bridge, or whatever functions as that on a leviathan." The man Crichton finished as they entered into a large room with the far wall displaying an image of the space outside of them. Several pedestals with odd control panels were spaced around the room. Tenchi wasn't have much trouble understanding what was going on.

Washu's machine had sent him to some distant part of space probably in a different reality. The floating toad alien Rygel was sizing him up for something. He kept looking at him like Washu did, like he was a piece of meat. Unfortunately there was little that he could actually do about the situation. The only human here had no way of getting back home and was stranded, possibly permanently. The best Tenchi could do would be to hope that Washu upheld her word and found him.

The other aliens on the ship had all came to investigate him and were now looking suspiciously at him. Well the blue skinned one, Zhaan wasn't, but none of them were outright friendly except for the other Earthling.

"I am sorry to interrupt but Moya has detected a ship." Pilot's voice spoke up as he appeared in a clamshell like device off to the side. His image also appearing with it.

"Please put it on screen Pilot." Zhaan said from her place at one of the consoles.

"Right away." Pilot answered and the viewing screen in front of him shifted to show a Saturn like planet, but what caught the eye from the beautiful image of a planet silhouetted by a sun was the immense space ship drifting in it's rings. Shaped like a large ring with a spike driven through it. Tenchi could only gulp at the sheer size, it drawfed anything he had ever seen.

"What are we doing Pilot? Why are we waiting around for them to find us?!" John asked quickly taking a position at a console.

"All scanner sweeps show that it is a dead ship."

"And you're sure it isn't Crais's?" John asked.

"Positive." Zhaan answered.

"What is another Peace Keeper ship doing in the uncharted territories?" Dargo asked approaching the console that John stood next to before turning to him. "I find this whole thing very suspicious."

"Hey! He's human, he knows about stuff on Earth that I haven't even told you. If Crais really had someone from Earth, do you really think he would send him after us?" John interjected glaring at the tall guy.

"Unfortunately I must agree with Crichton, the boy didn't even have translator microbes. No Peace Keeper would be in active duty and not have them." Aeryn agreed.

"Fine." Dargo growled. "But I still don't trust him." He finished glaring at him. Gulping he really wished that Washu would hurry up.

"So let's get out of here." John said to Pilot.

"No, the data spools on that vessel may show us the way back home." Dargo said leaning heavily on a console.

"Are you kidding? What, just think how big the winner of this battle must have been." John asked.

"I'm with John, we should not tempt fate by going towards a Peace Keeper vessel." Zhaan said.

"There may be weapons on board that we could us." Aeryn spoke up. "And I need to know who she is."

"It's the Zelbinion." Rygel said gravely and everyone but John immediately stiffened.

"Zelbinion? What's the big deal?" John asked.

"It was the most feared ship in the Peace Keeper armada." Dargo growled.

"Well clearly someone didn't get that message." John answered sarcastically.

"She's been missing in battle for over 100 cycles." Aeryn broke in.

"Cycles?" Tenchi asked.

"Great now we have to explain everything again to another dumb Earth man." Dargo hissed.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma was actually happy for once to be in female form as she moved through the video store. The pluses of being female while shopping had been hammered home just the day before when Masako had duped more than her share of unsuspecting male clerks. Passing by a guy selling snow cones she practiced and got one of the cooling treats. It was almost too easy for her to put on a big smile, talk all polite and girly, bat her eyelashes, and get free food.

Suffice it to say the poor college guy never had a chance, and a much happier red head and cabbit continued through the mall. She was also planning on hitting up the food court as soon as she had found the reason for her trip.

Now in the store she was actually surprised by the variety the place had. Thumbing through a rack with several titles beginning with 'T' the search was proving fruitless.

"Is there anything I could help you with miss?" A smooth voice asked from behind her. Looking over the non Rin-ohki shoulder, she found a skinny guy who was only slightly taller than her. The guy was just dragging his eyes up from looking down and had a confident smirk on his face.

"Nah." Turning back she started to go over the section again.

"I just ask, cause you've been standing here a while." The guy glided up and leaned up against the rack. "And I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't help a customer get whatever she wanted."

"Yea well unless you know where a copy of Tenchi Muyo is at, you can go, _help,_ someone else." She returned and resisted the urge to deck the guy.

"Tenchi Muyo? What's a cute girl like you doing watching a guys anime for?" The guy edged a bit closer to her outstretched hand. "I think we have some stuff over here you might like." He started and moved to put an arm around her. Grabbing his hand by the meaty part of his thumb she twisted and applied pressure pushing his hand back towards his arm.

"Listen, I'm not in the mood for some grubby little man to get in my way. If you don't have what I want, tell me now so you can stop wasting my time. Got it?" She growled and the boy nodded so fast that his head was a blur.

"It'd be over here." Allowing his arm to move she followed as he went to a bargain area and quickly started to rifle through until he pulled out a thick dvd box. "Here, that's all we got, jus just let me go." Releasing the guys hand he quickly ran away. Frowning at the case, a picture of Ryoko pulling away a red mask was on the cover. Flipping it over she read over it carefully. (5)

Paying the clerk, another guy this one about college age, who didn't do much other than take her money and put the box in a plastic bag. Almost huddling in the corner was the one who had found her purchase. When her eyes hovered over him he shivered and backed away. Smirking she almost skipped from the store. 'Heh, he wont be trying that again.'

Moving through the food court Ranma tried to decide on what to try and get. More than a few guys working tried to get her attention but she was looking for something in particular, something special. Halting in front of a counter she slowly turned, eyes sparkling as she viewed the most glorious stand she could ever come across, it was an ice cream shop. Moving faster than the eye could see she had her face pressed up against the display glass.

"Hi there miss, are you interested in some ice cream?" A guy slightly older than her asked and handed over a menu. Scanning it her eyes focused on the parfaits. She had always wanted to try one of those.

"Can I get one of these?" She asked cutely and pointed to the picture.

"Are you sure? That's a lot of ice cream?" Nodding she suddenly remembered Rin-ohki who was also ogling the frozen treat.

"Can I also get this for Rin-chan?" She pouted and pointed towards just a small cup filled with two scoops.

"Rin-chan? Is that your cute pet?" In answer to his question both Ranma and Rin-ohki nodded their heads in unison, causing the guys eyes to glaze over in a cuteness induced fit. "Ya know I don't usually do this but if you don't tell anyone, I think I might be able to give you it for free."

"Really?!' Clutching her hands to her chest she turned up the cute factor.

"For a cute girl like you? Of course." The guy grinned stupidly and quickly made the treats. "Here you go."

"Thank you mister!" She cried happily and took off to go sit down.

**X X X X X X**

'When out looking for eats, this girl body is definitely the way to go.' That ice cream guy had even given her another ice cream cone. A triple scoop of three different flavors! In her hurried dash to get to the store she hadn't paid much attention to what she was passing. Now on the way back she cocked her head to the side when she passed a two story store with 'Okonomiyaki Ucchan's' printed on the noren overhanging the entrance. Finishing the last of the ice cream, she entered the store wondering if it was her old buddy Ucchan's counterpart.

When she entered a girl with long chestnut colored hair was mixing something behind the counter. She looked up for just a moment before looking down again. "Have a seat, I'll be with you in just a sec." Hopping up to sit down at the counter, which was made out of one large grill. Rin-ohki hopped off her shoulder to sit in her lap.

"So what's up Ranchan?" The girl asked finally finishing behind the counter only to stop when she got a better look. "Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were a friend of mine. I'm Kuonji Ukyo, the owner, what can I get for you?"

"Ucchan?" She asked immediately recognizing the name. 'Was Ucchan a girl in this reality?'

"Sorry there sugar but only Ranchan gets to call me that. I admit you look a lot like her but you're definitely not her." Ranma's shoulders slumped, realizing how stupid she was for expecting her old friend to remember her, especially since she was a girl right now. "Hey now, I'm sorry, why don't you tell me about it?"

"It's stupid, I shouldn't have even came here. I'm sorry I'll go." This reality was becoming more and more depressing. First she didn't even exist, second they had a tv show about her friends minus her, and she had been dumb enough to try and look up an old friend who obviously didn't exist. What was even stupider was that she had done it as a girl.

"Hey now sugar you don't have to do that, here let me make ya up something and you can tell me what's bugging you." Ukyo said and twirled a pair of spatulas and smiled. "On the house."

"In that case how bout a shrimp?" Ranma was always ready for more food.

"Comin right up!" Ranma smiled sadly as the girl quickly and skillfully went about making the food. "So what's your name?"

"Hakubi Ranma."

"Ranma? That's not a very common name, I used to know a Saotome Ranma until he, well he went away."

"You did?" That was really strange, so there was a Ranma in this reality. He even knew Ucchan, even if that Ucchan was a girl.

"Yup, was even engaged to him since I was 6. But he had to move on about a year ago."

"Hey Ucchan!" Ranko's voiced called out from behind as the girl stepped into the shop. "Just stopping by, wanted to talk. Oh Ranma I didn't expect to find you here."

"Hey Ranchan, do you know her?" Ukyo asked as Ranko sat down next to her and gave Rin-ohki some attention. Watching the girl, Ranma was confused. Ukyo had said that only Ranchan could call her Ucchan. Even went so far as to say that she knew a Ranma who she assumed was the real Ranchan. But that didn't make any sense. Ranko was a girl, not even Genma would engage a girl to a girl.

"Ranma's actually the reason why I stopped by."

"So what's up? You two look related." Ukyo picked up Ranma okonomiyaki and swiftly deposited it on a plate before placing it in front of her. "Here you go, eat up before it gets cold."

"Thanks!" Ranma started eating and savoring the okonomiyaki, it even tasted like she remembered Ucchan's tasting. She didn't notice that Ukyo was studying her.

"Ok, I'm not the dullest knife in the drawer so what's going on Ranchan?" Ukyo asked Ranko.

"Well Ucchan, the reason I wanted to talk to you, was well, you see. This is Ranma. And _he _is on a dimensional trip like I went on." Ranko introduced and stressed the male part. Ranma paused and swallowed the piece of food already in her mouth. Slightly put off that Ranko would talk about her curse that freely.

"No way." Ukyo said and looked between the two red heads.

"Basically yea." Ranma nodded her agreement to Ranko's response.

"Wow, I knew you attracted strange people sometimes Ranchan. But this is twice now you've attracted yourself. I hope it doesn't become a habit. And you said he? So a Jusenkyo curse?"

"How'd you know?" She asked. 'Are Jusenkyo curses that common in this reality or something?'

"You talk like a guy, you're dressed like a guy, and I don't know any girl that would eat like you just did."

"Hey!" was her indignant reply. "I'm not that bad." She said in a small voice when the two women started to laugh.

"I'm surprised I didn't realize who you were after seeing you eat and call me Ucchan. So, do you have a me in your reality then?" Ukyo asked getting over her laughter.

"Yea but unlike you he's a guy." She answered and scratched the back of her head. Both Ranko and Ukyo shared a concerned look.

"Um Ranma when was the last time you saw Ucchan in your reality?" Ranko asked.

"When I was 6." She answered confused over the question. "Why?"

"Well when, this realities Ranma met me again he thought the same thing."

"Weird, but I remember Ucchan being a guy. Hey where is this realities Ranma, Ranko? I mean wouldn't you know him?" Ranma asked looking at the shorter red head. Ranko sighed while Ukyo moved around the counter to shut the entrance door. "What is it?" She asked wondering why they were acting so strangely.

"Ranma." Ranko started and turned her body towards him on the stool. "Can you promise not to freak out?"

"Freak out? Why would I do that?"

"There never really was a Ranma here." Ranko started fidgeting with her hands. "Mother had only one child, who was a girl, me."

"So then how was there someone named Ranma?" She asked, a feeling of dread rising.

"When I was four Father brought me to an evil man named Happosai thinking that he would give him a son. But what really happened was that he turned me into a boy." Ranma was about to ask something when her mouth snapped shut with an audible click.

"Father was scared of what Mother would do, so he ran away with me on a training trip. He tried to force me to be a boy. He filled my head with confusing thoughts on what women and men were supposed to be. He tried to make up for his mistake and took me to Jusenkyo and purposely hit me into the Nyannichuan."

"I was always miserable before, but after that it was even worse because it felt right to be a girl. And with all the ideas that Father filled my head with, all it did was confuse and scare me. When Mother finally found us 10 months ago I learned the truth. It didn't take long for me to try being a girl again, and it was even shorter of a time before I could no longer stand the idea of going back."

"Which was good, because an artifact that was used to lock my curse at the time sped up the breakdown of the spell Happosai used on me originally. My curse is gone, I'm just a normal girl again." Ranko finished with her eyes closed and Ukyo standing protectively next to her. A hand resting on the red heads shoulder.

Standing up, Rin-ohki picking up on her mood hopped on to her shoulder. Turning she slowly started to walk away. "Ranma?" Ranko asked sadly, it was all the incentive she needed to phase through the door and take off down the road.

**X X X X X X**

Ranko was at a loss for what to do. It was only a short chase, her physical conditioning was nothing compared to what it used to be. Meeting her counterpart three months ago had made that abundantly clear. This Ranma while also physically superior was not up to that same level. If she had to guess he was slightly better than when martial arts still ruled her life.

Without any kind of leads and walking through the park where she had first met Noriko and Miki ten months ago, she had no choice but to give up. Sitting down heavily on a bench underneath a large tree, she ran a hand through her red hair and caught her breath. 'Why did I wait to tell him? I knew it would only get worse if I waited. I should have explained things right away.'

But at least his reaction had been better than the other Ranma. That version of herself had been hostile to the idea of himself as a girl. Which was understandable with his mother lording over him with that seppuku contract. The poor guy was forced to live up to some unreasonable contract that was made when he was barely out of diapers.

It was getting close to 4pm and she would have to head back home soon, counterpart or not. Ryoga should have been back by now and would be worrying about her. Doubly so now that a male version of herself was around. On the best of days he was protective, with an unknown element, she was surprised he even left earlier. She also still had to talk with all her friends about whether or not they would still go on their trip.

A soft shifting of a branch far above her was all the notice of Ranma's presence she got. Even without constant practice she was still highly attuned to her surroundings. That Ranma had gotten or had been so close without her noticing, spoke volumes to his stealth abilities. 'Or maybe he wanted me to know he's there.' Looking up she found the unfamiliar red head gazing out over the park, her legs lightly kicking the air. Ranma's pet was sitting on the branch next to her, looking worriedly up at her master.

"Did I find you? Or did you find me?" Ranko asked and turned back to the park.

"I wouldn't know." Ranma answered. Sitting in silence Ranko couldn't help but fidget. Why did she keep getting into these situations? She was finally moving towards a normal life, yet she kept getting dragged back into the weird. "Things I know just turn out to be wrong lately."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ranko asked. "I found that it helps to get your feelings out. If you want, I'll listen. I mean if you can't talk to yourself who can you talk too?"

"Why so I could be a girl like you?" Came a sharp reply.

"No, but if you wanted I could give you some tips. From what I've seen you're a bigger tomboy than Akane is." She meant it to be a joke but all it produced was a derisive snort.

"Ayeka offers to give me tips too." A dvd case dropped into her lap just before Ranma suddenly landed directly in front of her. She was a little shocked at how unnaturally slow and graceful that movement had been. It had almost looked like Ranma could defy gravity. "I live with everyone on that show, I know them. Except, it's just, I'm not there."

"Really?" Studying the case she saw a group of five women, a similar rabbit, a boy and two older men on a picture in the back. Ranma sat down heavily on the bench next to her. "You don't live in Nerima?"

"Nope, well I visited for a couple days, but I live at a shrine outside of Okayama."

"How long have you lived there?"

"Something like a month now. I left Genma when he pulled a stupid engagement with the Tendo's on me. Next thing ya know I ran across Tenchi fighting Ryoko. Tenchi's the boy on the back and Ryoko is the girl on the cover, she's my, my sister."

"So who are the rest?" She asked and held the case over so Ranma could point to them. Talking was good, much better than trying to chase someone through town.

"Well that is Ayeka and her little sister Sasami. This is Mihoshi, she's kind of a ditz. The other cabbit is Ryo-ohki, she's Rin's sister." Ranma's pet added her own input at being mentioned causing her to shiver at the catlike sound. "And that's, she's Washu."

"Are they all nice?"

"Ryoko and Ayeka have their moments but yea everyone gets along somehow."

"That's good." Handing over the case she went back to looking over the park. "Ya know it's kind of ironic. I mean meeting up with you here."

"I don't get it."

"Do you see that bench over past the lake, the one that rollerblader is going past?"

"Yea."

"That's the one I sat on the day I found out I was really a girl. Where I met Noriko-san and Miki. Gosh she was so little back then."

"But weren't you a guy?" Turning back to the slightly taller red head, she shook her head realizing that the question wasn't at all about finding out her own past. It was about her actually making a choice to stop being male.

"No, and it wasn't for lack of trying. I suppose physically I was but where it counts." Tapping the side of her head she smiled sadly. "I wasn't." She stiffened for a moment as Rin-ohki hopped into her lap to be petted. Small furry cat sounding animals didn't exactly put her at ease but the rabbit like creature was incredibly cute and affectionate. If she kept quiet, they'd get along famously.

"I thought I'd have to be." Ranma started suddenly then stopped as quickly. Watching the part time girl Ranko kept her mouth closed. "When I first got the curse and finally came to my senses after chasing Genma around. I woke up in the woods wearing just my gi top. And I, I screamed, I screamed like a girl."

Ranma's entire body was tensed and her eyes were clenched shut. Ranko gulped, recognizing how rare getting this kind of information from Ranma, any Ranma was. She had never told anyone how she felt right after getting the curse, not even Akane, who she was even closer to than Ryoga. She felt honored that it was being shared with her.

"When I finally stopped, I just sat there staring off into space for who knows how long, it was the first time since the cats that I was actually scared. But even with the cats I would wake up with that old lady. This time I was all alone, I've never been alone before, I've always had Genma around, even if he was just there, he was company ya know?"

Nodding she could remember, even through all the stupid stuff, Genma had tried to be there. Her own Jusenkyo narrative had been anger, then curiosity, and finally shame with how she felt at home in the new form she had been given. Her real body given form once more. After that she had simply buried everything, believing that the curse was playing with her mind. Causing her to lash out at any perceived threat to the lie she had constructed.

"I started thinking. What was I going to do? Would I be a girl forever? I had so many questions but I was the only one around, so I had to start thinking. And before that I had always just went along with what Genma had said. It was easier not having to think about things. For some things, it hurt less. After figuring out how to move without falling over, I walked the several kilometers through the forest to find that, that _place_ again."

"On the way, I gave up, for the first time in my life I accepted defeat. I accepted that I might have to live as a girl forever. That maybe I'd never be a guy again." Ranma suddenly stood up and started to pace in front of her. "What kind of coward am I?! I run from everything! If something hits me through my guard, my first thought is escape, to run away! I'm just a, I'm just a scaredy c, ca, cat." Once again Ranma dropped heavily on to the bench. Her ears visibly drooping.

About to slide over and put an arm around the girl's shoulders she stopped. Physical contact, something she had once abhorred was something she had come to enjoy. A hug from her mother, being held by Ryoga, the feeling of being close, connecting with another person was one of the things that had helped her get through rediscovering herself. Would this Ranma react in the same negative manner that she had before, or would he or she at the moment, accept strength from another? There was no way to know, and it may make the situation worse.

"The worst part, was when I finally got back. The first thing Genma did was hit me with hot water, throw my pack at me, and expected me to follow him. It didn't matter to him, he couldn't even tell me how the curse worked! I had to figure it out on my own!" Ranma finished angrily before continuing in a much sadder tone. "And I wanted to talk then, I wanted to know if he had felt like I had, if he had thought about being a panda forever. If it was the curse messing with my head, or, if it, if it was me." Ranma finished in a tiny voice.

Now she understood why Ranma had run away. She wasn't just him born female. She was a possible path that he could have followed, one that he had thought about. And possibly something that he had found and maybe still found enticing. Suddenly Ranko didn't feel so certain that she knew how to handle this situation.

She had assumed it would be like with the other Ranma and if she just explained the situation everything would work out. He would calm down, they would realize that their existences didn't really threaten the other's and everyone would be happy. But this, was there a possibility that she could influence his future? Was she responsible and unbiased enough to help someone through that kind of decision if asked? She had really stepped in it this time and the only way to get out was to go forward.

"Ranma, do you want to be a, girl?" She asked watching her counterpart.

"No!" The girl shouted and puffed up in indignation before deflating. "But I, I wondered." Ranma slumped into herself even further. "How could I not?" Sitting in silence she stared down at the pet of Ranma's. The creatures comically large ears rose up whenever her hand rose from its head. It even watched Ranma as if it was feeling what her counterpart felt.

"When you told me how you used to be a guy, but became a girl. I don't know, I just couldn't handle it. The people I live with, they don't care if I'm a guy or girl. Heh I'm Sasami's Ranma-niichan or Ranma-neechan depending on the water temperature. Even my mom, my real mom Washu, doesn't seem to care. Probably even thinks it's a good thing, I don't know she's so hard to figure out."

"Then there are times like today, I was out shopping as a girl and I, I'd never had an ice cream parfait. But today I had one, I got it for free by acting all cute and girly without even trying. I don't really feel bad about doing it, not even that I acted all girly to do it." Ranma's cheeks tinged pink. "And it was just as good as I thought it would be." Ranko couldn't help but laugh. She didn't mean it to anger Ranma but the girl suddenly turned to glare at her. "What's funny? You think I'm sick don't you?"

"No, it's just, I love ice cream parfaits as well. And no I do not think you're sick, I would never think that." On top of everything, this situation was giving her a horrible sense of deja vu. She had said similar things to Akane when she had confessed how being a girl was natural for her, in this very same park. Not wanting to press in case she got the answer she remembered, but being intensely curious, she continued. "There isn't more to it than that though, is there? Like you don't find it easier or more comfortable to be a girl, do you?"

Ranma sat biting her lower lip, brow furrowed in concentration as she considered the question. When the cat like girl didn't answer she reached over and gently rested a hand on hers. "You don't have to answer if you don't know." Ranma nodded and took a deep breath. "Thank you very much Ranma." (6)

"For what?" The sometimes girl asked.

"For telling me all that. It's never easy to talk to someone else about feelings that personal. Do you feel any better to get some of it out?" That went double for someone who had been as emotionally crippled as she had been and no doubt Ranma still was.

"A little I guess."

"Feel like heading back home? I'm sure Mother is getting worried about both of us." She made a point to emphasize that Ranma was included in that.

"Sure." Ranma gave her the first genuine smile she had seen from her counterpart. Rin-ohki wiggled from her hands and hopped over to quickly move to the top of Ranma's head. Standing she and her counterpart started to head back to home.

On the way a small detail continued to bother her. "I'm sorry to ask this but how old are you? From the way you talk it seems like you would be younger than me." She asked wondering if it was possible that he had moved between realities and time.

"I'm 16, you?"

"I turned 17 three months ago." She couldn't keep the smile from spreading over her face. "I guess this means I'm your big sister." The other Ranma had been the same age but they had just naturally fallen into a big brother, little sister, relationship. It'd be nice to try the opposite. Everyone was so protective of her, maybe now it was time to repay that back to another.

"Sure if you want, so long as you don't act like my real sister."

"I can't promise that, I don't know how she acts." Giggling she picked up her pace to get in front of Ranma. Spinning on her heel she faced Ranma and wagged a finger. "But I can promise I won't let my new little brother become some hooligan. He's going to start dressing, speaking, and acting like a civilized member of society."

"Oh yea?" The taller red head challenged stepping by her and raising an eyebrow. "Better red heads than you have tried."

"Yea." She returned and started walking again. In the back of her mind she remembered that she shouldn't get too close. It would only hurt more when he did leave. Another part of her asked the question. It was an accident that sent him here, would he even be able to leave?

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

If anyone can, could someone please reference me a page where Ranma makes discouraging remarks about women. I've read through it several times since I started writing this story trying to find the inspiration for the "Girls are weak, silly, all that jazz." That is so prevalent in Ranma fanfiction. The most I can find is him making some comment about something being acceptable as a girl but unacceptable as a guy. Such as not being able to skate is less embarrassing as a girl than as a guy.

The Farscape universe is just before the events of season 1 episode 7. Why then? You'll see. For more detailed information about the show Farscape visit 'farscape dot wikia dot com'

(1) Ryoko was one of the main people at the controls, both her and Ayeka know what's going on pretty clearly while Ranma, Tenchi, Sasami, and Mihoshi only vaguely remember what Washu had said. Ranma knows more than the other three only because Rin-ohki was there to record the conversation. Remember what Washu says cabbits are, computer units. Com pu ter units... but they're so CUTE!.

(2) Ranma would have a similar gift to Ranko. Unfortunately because of his hearing, the violin sounds far too high pitched. The higher notes causing him physical pain. He's also far more emotionally repressed which is one of the big things about Ranko's playing, that she is able to convey her emotions through playing.

(3) Ranma catches episode 8 of the Tenchi OVA.

(4) Nodoka is thinking of Ranko's reaction when she viewed evidence of who she really was in the first chapter of Genma's Daughter. The circumstances are obviously different as well as the overall reaction but she sees that whatever the other realities Genma did that was bad enough for Ranma to change his family name. It wasn't enough to destroy the child that had originally left, possibly even preserving it by keeping them so repressed. Of course she finds it horrifying that Genma's stupidity spans at least three realities.

It's pretty obvious how much not being able to be Ranma around Nodoka hurts him in the manga. A point of reference for such would be just after defeating Ryu Kumon. Ranma is distraught to hear that Nodoka knew that Ryu wasn't her son but was desperate enough to see him to actually go along with it. (Book 28 chapter 10)

(5) That's actually the Pioneer DVD box set for only the first two OVA's. It's my favorite cover. Since Equal Halves ends in 2000 that means the third OVA has yet to come out.

(6) Feel free to take this as you will, I'd rather not give a definite answer at this point or really from here on out since things will work out as they will. BTW I do have planned out nearly all the major plot points to come.


	14. No Need for a Clean break

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

(telepathy between Washu, Ryoko, Ranma, and cabbit)

Small note before this begins. I'm sorry that this took so long to get written, and I'm still not happy with it. It's actually been done for a couple weeks now except for the Tenchi part. I just got into writing stuff for my other story and even came up with an idea for a new story that I'm toying around with. I may just polish what I have and post it to see what kind of response I get before thinking of continuing. And if you check out my deviantart page I've been rather productive in doing some Naruto manga colorings.

I would also like to issue a huge apology to Konsaki, I got your pm way back at the beginning of August, I don't remember responding since I decided to read your fic 'Chaos Bender' before I did so. I also ran through your recent 'Red Dragon of Konoha' which actually gave me a little inspiration for that fic I mentioned previously. A big thank you to you Konsaki and it really helps to know that people appreciate my work.

**X X X X X X**

"We're back!" Ranko announced as Ranma and her entered the Saotome family home. Slipping off her slippers, they almost fell off on their own with how large they were, she was glad to have been wearing them the night before.

"And where have you two been?" Nodoka asked sternly appearing in front of them. "You were supposed to be back almost an hour ago Ranko. And Ranma I thought you were coming right back."

"Sorry Mother, I stopped at Ucchan's after taking care of Miki and Ranma was there. Afterwards we took a walk, I guess we stayed out a bit longer than we planned. Isn't that right Ranma?" Ranko answered and elbowed her lightly in the side.

"Uh yea that's right." She agreed quickly and Nodoka looked suspiciously between them.

"Alright, go say hello to Ryoga before getting cleaned up. The Tendo's and your Father will be coming over later, Akane-chan called and said they are interested in meeting you Ranma, after all it's not every day that you get to meet someone from another dimension." Nodoka said and turned back to the kitchen. Rin-ohki hopped from her head and followed the Saotome woman hoping to be fed. When being partnered with a cabbit one learned quickly that they were literally bottomless pits for food. Literally they could not be full.

"Well come on." Ranko tugged at her sleeve. Following the girl they entered the living room to find Ryoga looking over some paperwork. "Sorry were late Ryoga." Ranko sat down next to the boy and they shared a hug with a small kiss. "What's this stuff?"

Ranma ignored the conversation for the most part and open the DVD case to put the first disc into a simple DVD player that they had connected to the TV. Just figuring out how to get the machine to open so she could put the tiny disc in was hard enough. Now she had to figure out how to get it to play.

"Just some paperwork I have to fill out." He said sadly then gave Ranko a large smile. "I got the position."

"That's great!" Ryoga received another hug. "I knew you would get it."

Ranma froze while turning around to ask if there was some secret martial arts technique required to get it to work, when the two shared a more intimate kiss. She had been kissed once before, but that had been by Shampoo, and she didn't exactly consider that to be a romantic kiss. Ryoga and Ranko however had kissed each other on the mouth and held the position, when they finally broke the pair sat gazing lovingly at each other.

Her first reaction was outrage that Ranko was kissing a guy, any guy. She hadn't reacted fast enough to say anything so she had just ended up sitting there with her finger held out limply at the pair. Up until very recently she would have been mistaken for Ranko's twin, when she thought of herself as a female that is who she saw. To see that body not just dressed up as a girl, not just acting female, but actually kissing a guy. It was like some perversion of the natural law. When the two finally broke their staring contest Ranma turned away, her face flushed, to play with the remote hoping that it would suddenly work.

"Need help?" Ranko asked and Ranma for the second time in a day nearly jumped out of her skin. "Sorry it just looked like you were having problems."

"Problems? What problems? I don't have any problems? This stupid thing just won't work." She said hastily and nearly broke the remote by pushing the buttons a little too hard.

"Uh huh." Ranko gently took it from her hands and turned the TV to another channel displaying a menu. "The TV needs to be on the input channel and then you get the menu. Now you can select if you just want to play from the beginning or go into a specific episode. Which do you want?"

"The first." She answered, her amazement at the technology keeping from thinking about Ranko and Ryoga. It was nothing compared to what Washu could do but it was still something she had never seen before.

"Alright." Hitting a button the menu disappeared and started to display some warnings. "If you want to skip ahead just hit this button, and if you want to fast forward you hit this one." The other red head explained pointing to keys on the remote. Nodding she took it back as Ranko left.

**X X X X X X**

Dinner proved to be the first interruption to Ranma's viewing. She had only gotten through the first couple episodes and she wasn't sure how much would be the same or similar afterwards but most of the stuff in the first two had happened close to the same. But it was like he didn't exist, which she supposed was very possible, after all at the moment she was in an alternate reality. She had finally returned to male after dinner.

The second interruption was a visit from the Tendo's and Genma. When Genma and Soun had first walked in he had given the pair of men a glare he didn't know he could create. It had been given with enough force that both of them found plenty of reason to find someplace else to spend their time. The sisters on the other hand proved to be far friendlier than he remembered. The reason seemed to be that the two families had been much closer when everyone had been younger, Ranko it seemed had been something of a sister to each of them and they had restarted that relationship once the truth had come out.

Nabiki was far less of a mercenary than he remembered. It was still there and he had caught her analyzing Rin-ohki but she didn't look to be going any further. Kasumi as in his reality couldn't have been any nicer. Akane was less hostile and was even bordering on friendly. They all had questions, thankfully they were all simple and none that required him to divulge any gritty details. He'd had enough of that kind of thing earlier with Ranko. He did have to show off the curse but that was easy and with all the people with curses around they were desensitized to it.

When they finally left, except for Akane who would be spending the night, he stepped outside to get some air. Jumping up to the roof he halted his descent before landing on the tiles. Finding a good spot he floated over and sat down. Feeling the still warm roof beneath him he kicked his feet up and laid back. The sun was nearly set with only a faint orange glow to show its position.

Staring up at the sky he could barely make out several of the brighter stars. Back at the shrine and on a clear night it felt like he could see forever. Not in the city though, maybe that was what he disliked about places like this, not being able to see the last constant in his life. Ranma hadn't thought that reality would be something that could be screwed up. Wait that wasn't right, he still liked food, which meant he had two constants left in his life.

Yawning he felt through his link with Rin-ohki that Ranko and Akane were about to go to bed. Deciding it would be a good idea to follow suit, he was wiped out from the days excitement. Stumbling he slipped on a loose tile and toppled over. "Ack!" Rolling down the roof he flipped off the edge and landed in a heap on the ground.

The fall didn't really hurt physically; his pride took a bit of a nosedive though. He could fly, what was he doing falling? Floating himself upwards he righted himself and set back down. Padding into the house he sat down heavily on the couch. 'Where am I supposed to sleep anyways?' He thought, the subject hadn't really come up. The house was big but there was only one free room and Akane was living out of it over the summer.

Pulling off his shirt so that he could be cooler he lay down on the couch and was quickly asleep. Rin-ohki, who had been off exploring and getting to know Akane and Ranko, thumped back into the room before taking a spot next to his head in order to sleep herself.

**X X X X X X **

Bed was calling her but Ranko still had to go talk with Ranma. She had already changed into her pajamas and removed the small amount of makeup she had applied earlier. Yuka's parents had been difficult once again. Being unable and unwilling to lie, she had ended up giving a heavily edited story of a relative who was visiting on short notice. They were aware of her former curse and Ryoga's current which made them believing Ranma having a curse far easier.

Yuka's father however incorrectly assumed that Ranma was actually a girl who turned into a boy. After all not even her fiancé Ryoga was going on a trip so why would she bring a male relative that she barely knew? Ranko had simply not corrected him, she could after all be sneaky when she wanted to be, Nabiki would be proud if she ever told her. Akane had explained the situation to Yuka earlier and her friend had found nothing wrong with the idea, otherwise she wouldn't have dared mislead Yuka's parents. Things would be uneasy until they got to know Ranma but she was sure that everyone would get along.

Stepping into the living room she found Ranma face down on the couch asleep. 'Fantastic. At least one of us is getting some sleep.' Next to Ranma's head was Rin-ohki, whose own rose to watch her. "Do you want a carrot?" She asked as quietly as possible. The creatures face lit up and hopped over to her. Kneeling she allowed her to jump into her hands so she could carry her.

Depositing Rin-ohki on the counter she opened the fridge to grab several carrots. Turning back she found the cabbit watching her inquisitively, her large golden eyes shining with intelligence. "Here you go." Leaning on the counter she watched the creature inhale it with a speed that would make Genma envious. When she was done the cabbit turned back to her and made a happy meow noise. Shivering, she tentatively reached out to scratched Rin-ohki behind an ear.

"It's nothing against you but I don't really like cats and I get the feeling that Ranma doesn't either. But I think he can understand you so it doesn't matter to him. I'm not so lucky, so if you don't make that cat noise, we can be friends. Is that alright with you?" Ranko blink blinked when the cabbit nodded. She hadn't really been expecting an actual answer. It did however prove how intelligent the creature was.

"You seem really smart. Does that mean you're smart enough to understand what I'm saying?" The cabbit nodded again. "So if I asked you to sit up on your hind legs you could." She stopped when Rin-ohki did sit up on her back legs even waved her paw. "This is so cool." This seemed to please Rin-ohki who suddenly jumped up and started to circle her neck before nuzzling her. "Hey hey, easy." Giggling she reached up to pet the affectionate creature. It was hard not to smile, making Rin-ohki happy seemed to give her a good feeling as well. (1)

"Let's get you back to Ranma, I wouldn't want him to worry." Heading back to the living room she found Ranma still fast asleep. Setting Rin-ohki down nearby she gave the cabbit a few last pats on the head. Turning off the lamp Ranma had left on, she headed for her own room.

Sliding the door closed behind her she turned off the light, fumbling for a moment to slip into her bed. It had been a tiring day but tomorrow would be better. She was just about to fall asleep when she heard the tell tale hopping noises of Rin-ohki coming down the hall. The cabbit was smart but she couldn't just let her wander around, what was she thinking? Who knew if she would get lost, several of the doors were open to help try and cool down the house.

Throwing off the thin sheet covering her, she went and opened the door. Sitting outside was Rin-ohki looking up at her. "Did you want to sleep with me?" She asked kneeling down to get closer to the cabbit's level. Rin-ohki looked like she wanted to say something but chose instead to start circling her ankles at break neck speed. "Alright, but if Ranma doesn't like it, I'm not taking the blame."

**X X X X X X **

Keeping his hands in his pockets, Tenchi watched Zhaan go about checking different consoles in the bridge. On the destroyed ship were Aeryn, John, and D'Argo who had went on board to investigate. The trio had found someone who was working on the ship, he believed she had been called a tech. Rygel had left shortly after to go on board for reasons that the toad like alien wouldn't explain.

Sitting down on the floor he crossed his legs and tried to do some breathing exercise that Katsuhito had always made him do when he got distressed over something. And this certainly fit the description of a stressful situation. Focusing his concentration inwards he tried to sense out the power of Jurai. When first being instructed to do this he had been almost overwhelmed by the power, it was like a river that had flooded his system the moment he had come into contact.

After just a short time he had learned to only draw on the amount he needed. It was easy to make this switch, Katsuhito had always directed him to draw on his own physical energy or ki and he now realized that it had always been the power of Jurai.

"Excuse me Zhaan, could you check the scan of vector Gappa and tell me what you see." Pilot's voice came over the com. Peaking his eyes opened he watched Zhaan as she pressed several controls.

"I'm not sure." Pausing Zhaan stood up straight. "But I think it's a ship, trying to stay just out of sensor range."

"A Sheyang ship?" Pilot's question was more of a statement and Tenchi noticed how the mood in the room had suddenly turned very tense.

"Excuse me but who are the Sheyang?" He asked.

"Scavengers, they prey on the helpless." Zhaan answered and turning to the view screen it shifted to show a blurry image of a ship that seemed to be nothing more than a clump of debris welded together. "Pilot please warn the others."

"Already done, D'Argo is returning immediately." Pilot responded just before a panel next to him started to rapidly beep. Zhaan rushed over and hit several panels.

"Their weapons are targeting us."

**X X X X X X**

"A Leviathan?" The head Sheyang Teurac breathed out and studied the view screen. His large toad like body leaned back in his chair and he scratched his neck. "This ship makes no move to defend itself."

"Heh heh heh." Lomus his second in command, a skinnier and much younger Sheyang snickered as he moved up behind him. "When was the last time you saw a Leviathan, eh Teurac? Even you have never claimed such a prize."

"Correct." And the reason being that they were always escorted by Peace Keepers, a lot of Peace Keepers.

"It's ripe for the picking, defenseless, tethered to the other ship, and with no weapons." Lomus sneered and patted him on the shoulder. "Evrat!" Lomus shouted and banged on the ceiling causing a trap door and their gunner to peek his head down. "Prepare to attack!"

Teurac made no move to counter the order. It would be a good test of the Leviathans capabilities. Nothing seemed dangerous about the ship, there were no weapons visible, no boosters to speed up the ship. Other than starburst it would be unable to escape their weapons range before being crippled. Still, something seemed dangerous about it.

**X X X X X X**

"What's the situation?" D'Argo demanded as he stormed on to the bridge.

"The Sheyang have initiated their weapons countdown." Zhaan answered and Tenchi watched on the viewscreen how at the middle of the ship two prongs were starting to glow.

"If Moya becomes too heavily damaged we may need to retreat to the Zelbininion." Tenchi heard D'Argo whisper to Zhaan as Pilot's display flickered to life.

"Zhaan, Moya and I are very afraid of fire." That really didn't sound encouraging to him. D'Argo, was now pacing back in forth in front of the view screen giving out an endless stream of threats. Being engrossed in trying to figure out the stream of curses he missed Zhaan tell pilot to send a video feed of it to the Sheyang.

"Their weapons are still powering up, less than 15 microts." Gulping he watched Zhaan and D'Argo brace themselves. He was about to do the same when he felt a tug. Turning back to the view screen he watched as a ball of yellow light suddenly shot out from the ship and hurtled towards them at high speed.

Time seemed to slow as he heard a womans voice gently telling him that he can stop it. He had never heard her before but it reminded him of Sasami. Planting his feet he brought his hands up and together at his chest before pushing them outwards towards the projectile. Breathing out he stretched his hands to the side and pushed with the power of Jurai.

At first nothing came then a tsunami of power gushed forth to stop directly in front of the ship. Outside three gigantic blades of light shot out from a center point, they weren't large enough to cover the entire ship but were directly in the way of the projectile that exploded harmlessly the moment it struck the shield.

He could feel it's power, doubly so when a sword hilt like the tenchi-ken formed between his hands, it's two prongs at the base of the sword glowing brightly. Staring in amazement at what he had just done he twisted his hands from side to side, outside the three light wings mirrored his movements with a speed belying their great size.

"By the Goddess, to think a young boy could form such projections." Zhaan gasped and stared at him with wonder.

"Who cares if he can or can't, boy can you use those to attack?" D'Argo had gotten over his shock and was now standing next to him.

"I don't know." Chewing on his lower lip. "I get the feeling that I'm not supposed to use them for that."

"The Sheyang vessel is retreating." Pilot announced and he let out a breath as the light wings faded from view outside. The hilt floating in mid air fell to the ground and clattered noisily on the floor.

"Looks like it was enough to convince those cowards to leave us alone, but they'll be back." D'Argo's gaze softened and he turned to head back to the controls. Reaching down he grabbed the hilt, it wasn't a direct copy of the tenchi-ken but it shared the same basic design. The greatest difference seemed to be it's pure golden color, where as the tenchi-ken was a dull tan.

"Tenchi, would you like to rest?" Zhaan asked, her voice still carrying her amazement. Nodding he followed her through the maze of corridors to a large room. Plopping down on the bed he felt mentally drained but physically great, like he could do anything. "I am sorry for my bluntness but what species are you? You and Crichton are obviously not the same. He possesses no aptitude for higher thought, let alone to serve as a conduit for the Goddesses power."

"The Goddesses power?" He asked.

"Yes, I felt you draw directly on Her power to form those blades. There are species who are powerful psychics and my own draw heavily on Her power, but to actually form physical manifestations is simply unheard of."

"I don't know what to tell you, I've never done that before. I just heard a voice telling me I could stop it."

"Zhaan, Moya has detected another spatial anomaly." Pilot announced over the com.

"Where Pilot?"

"Right next to you." Both jumped as light suddenly filled the room. Igniting his new sword he stood in front of Zhaan as multiple visions swirled around themselves before joining together.

"Washu?" He asked as he found the short red head standing with her hands on her hips at the entrance to the dimensional tuner.

"Heehee, am I interrupting anything Tenchi-dono? I thought I was the only one for you." Chocking he shut off the blade just before he was tackled by a pair of women.

"Tenchi-sama!" "Tenchi-neechan!" Ayeka and Sasami yelled and he could vaguely hear Mihoshi say with a muffled voice. "Tenchi-san."

**X X X X X X**

"Amazing, you don't even need translator microbes." Smiling mischievously at the blue skinned woman Washu explored this strange ship. It was crude and basic when compared to her technology but it appeared to work remarkably well even with it's obvious limitations. She had already gathered a sample of these translator microbes. Long ago she had taught herself nearly every known language which made figuring out this womans language easy.

At the moment she was waiting for a human to return from another ship that they were docked to. She didn't like the idea of having to tout an extra person back to Earth, especially since it's location in this reality could be drastically different than where here charts indicated. Entering the large open area where the pilot sat she whistled while looking down into the void below. The chamber must have extended down some 300 meters.

"Greetings." She smiled at the large blue crab like creature.

"Hello, I am Pilot." Pilots head bowed down for a moment.

"My you have a complicated language." Putting a finger to her lips she examined him. "You must have quite the brain in that head of yours."

"My species needs to slow down our speech in order for the translator microbes to be able to translate."

"I see." She would have tried to find out more when a human in his early thirties ran into the room. A large toothy grin spread across her face looking at him. This unassuming man clearly had the touch of destiny about him. Looking into his blue eyes she saw the intelligence she expected out of her children. If circumstances were different she would have taken him on as a student.

"Nope I won't." She said before he could even talk and the man immediately started to stutter and demand an explanation. Thanking the pilot for his time she headed off to return to the tuner. She still had to find her wayward children and who knew what kind of trouble they had gotten into. Well Ranma was probably fine, but Ryoko almost certainly had started a fight.

" What do you mean you wont?" Crichton demanded as he stepped in her path. "All I want to do is go home, you're going there anyways." Looking up at the taller being she could see the desperation in his eyes.

"John-dono the Earth you seek could take years for me to locate, I have no point of reference here to find it. The Earth I am returning to is in a different dimension. It would be better for you to find your own way home."

"I can tell you, I'm an astronaut, if I just had star charts I could." She held up a hand to stop him.

"No." Reaching up she gently laid her hand against his cheek, feeling the course feel of his stubble. "You have your own path to follow." Giving him a gentle slap to the cheek she left him standing there. "And I cannot be part of it."

A few minutes later Zhaan happened upon the man who had yet to move. "John are you alright?"

"I can't move." Crichton got out through clenched teeth.

**X X X X X X**

Saotome Genma was not known to be the smartest man in the world. After all this was the same man who brought his daughter to someone known to be a blight upon all women, thinking that he would give him a son. He had compounded the problem by taking her on a training trip, forcing her to live as a boy, and engaging her to multiple women. Now he lived with the Tendo's, his once loving wife no longer suffering his company. He couldn't really argue with it, her anger was very justified.

He was lucky to even be able to visit his daughter and was planning on doing that this morning. She would be slacking off in her martial arts for the next week and would need to get in a good hour of training. That instrument she loved to play took up all of her time and he had only recently accepted that it was a worthy pursuit. But that did not mean that he didn't think her neglecting the art wasn't a crime with the raw talent she held.

What nearly had him salivating was this new Ranma that had shown up from another reality. Any martial artist could see the boy's skill just by watching him move. Of course the way he had glared at him had been pushed to the back of his mind. Surely it was just stress and nothing that another version of himself had done, even if surely the boy wouldn't blame him, right?

Entering his former home with every intention of creating an impromptu sparring session with Ranma to gauge his skill, he found the boy lying face down in the living room. 'Perfect!' Gently grabbing him by the back of his pants and tank top, noting that he had some weird skin tight black suit on with a long section of it coming from where the base of his spine would be, forming some sort of tail.

Unconcerned with such details he carried the boy till he was at the doorway giving him a clear shot at the small koi pond in the yard. Drawing back he threw Ranma in a perfect arc to splash down in the center. Jumping out into the yard he planted his hands on his hips and prepared to berate Ranma for being so unaware. He didn't have to wait long for a sputtering red headed female to burst from the water.

"What'cha do that for you stupid old man?" The boy turned girl demanded after seeing him.

"What's the matter? Didn't your father teach you to mind your surroundings boy?" He gloated and prepared for a counter attack. When Ranma exploded from the water into the air he followed. After a brief exchange of fist and feet he landed heavily off to the side. Ranma did likewise but in a far more graceful and slow drop. 'Ha so I was right he is very skilled.' There also seemed to be something waving behind him but that didn't matter at the moment.

"I see the other me trained you decently. Although you are clearly lacking, maybe you should give up the art and take up the violin like Ranko." Bringing up his hands he played an air violin. "You two could be a duet." The girls eyes bore into him then softened.

"I'll show you old man!" The girl announced and jumped up into the air. Following, there was another exchange and he dropped from the air.

Sparring in mid air had never been about actually training a person to fight in that position. For one it left a person completely open. Whoever left the ground first lost the advantage because they were committed and the opponent could easily maneuver on the ground for effective counters. The real purpose was to make attack and defense purely instinctive. If a person didn't develop that, they would be too concerned on how they were going to fall and would be knocked down by their opponent.

"Ha! This time you'll be taking another trip into the pond GIRL!" He shouted and soon found himself on the receiving end of many trips into the pond himself. Finally a particularly vicious hit sent him face first into the ground, knocking him out.

Still hanging in mid air Ranma snorted at how easy that had been. Fighting someone in mid air when they could fly was foolhardy at best. Dropping to the ground, she walked over to the house door and sat down. Taking off her tank top to wring it free of water, happy for once that she had the battle suit on. She did not however like how it conformed to her body like a second skin. Though it did help keep the movement of her breasts to a minimum, which was a huge plus in her mind. Pants then boxers followed leaving her sitting with just the suit on. Behind her she could feel the fake tail swishing angrily. "Stupid old man."

**X X X X X X**

"Ayeka-neechan!" Raising up from where she had been bent over planting rice. Ayeka wiped at her brow with the back of her arm she turned to where Sasami was running towards her. It was back breaking work but along with herself and the majority of adults in the village it would be done by nightfall. Two months it had been since they had arrived and she had quickly fulfilled a niche they had lost since their priestess died giving birth. She could not perform the duties of the woman; that fell on a middle aged woman named Rin, but she had been accepted as a leader given her advanced knowledge.

This world they had been transported to still felt like Earth, though it was clearly an even more underdeveloped version. She could feel her connection to Ryo-oh but it was very faint. She had called it to come to her rescue and to hopefully make the wait for Washu more bearable. Wherever her ship was, it was a great distance from her and that it would take at least 400 years before it reached her.(2)

"Ayeka-neechan, they're fighting again!" Sasami explained as she gasped for breath. It didn't take her more than a second to realize who her sister was talking about. Handing off her plants to a woman next to her she trudged out of the water to head back to the village. On the way she fixed her borrowed clothing to be more presentable.

When she arrived it was clear that the two boys were once again fighting, a third was off to the side. A boy with silver hair was clashing with his younger brother who had reddish hair. Actual yokai existed in this reality and these three were both descended from one that was renowned as being incredibly powerful. Their father, who was half yokai, had died recently and the two fighting were in constant contention on what to do with their family.

The eldest brother named Keisou reminded her greatly of Ryoko, always willing to pick a fight and more than happy to actually be in that fight. Kan, the middle of the three brothers was a boy who didn't get excited over anything around him, he also lacked the physical constitution to even play with other children. At the moment he sat on the sidelines looking worriedly at his two brothers. Hou, the youngest brother was more level headed than his older brother but would never back down from a fight. All three were now in their twenties but each looked to be in their teens.

And fight they did, neither Keisou nor Hou would ever agree to something. Keisou now carried his father's sword, a relic that appeared to be a rusty blade but could become a fearsome weapon when wielded properly. He believed that they should leave the village and become strong together so that they could become famous. Hou disagreed and said that they should remain in the village and continue to protect it as their father had.

Storming up to the two boys and headless of the danger their struggle held. Both boys possessed monstrous strength. They also had dog like ears placed farther up on their heads than normal. Kan had the most prominent non human features, having a pronounced muzzle and digitigrades legs. Grabbing both fighting boys by their ears she yanked them apart forcibly.

"Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch! Lemme go you old hag!" Keisou shouted and tried to pull away.

"Lemme go!" Hou for once seemed to agree with his brother.

"Enough! Which one of you started it this time?" She asked and looked between them. Hou slowly raised his hand. "And what about?"

"I want Fathers sword! Keisou is just a brute! He can't even make it transform into the fang!" The boy said with a voice full of conviction and looking at her as if to dare her to dispute the claim.

"And did you happen to make this situation worse?" She asked Keisou.

"Of course not! He's just mad that Father left it to me." Releasing them allowed the pair to back away and glare at each other.

"Keisou go to the fields I will punish Hou."

"But Ayeka-san!" They both shouted together.

"Go!" She barked and the boy made a hasty dash to leave. Watching he she noticed Kan slinking off hoping not to get caught up in any kind of punishment. As soon as she was sure the boy was out of earshot she turned and smiled at Hou. "If I didn't know any better I would say you two are just like two people I know."

"You keep saying that but you never say who." The boy grumbled and smiled sheepishly.

"Come on let's go see what Rin-san is doing." With Hou in tow she headed for the shrine up on the hill. The weather was pleasant, not the horrid cold that had been permeating her real reality.

"Ayeka-san why is it that you always punish Keisou?" Hou asked suddenly breaking the silence.

"Because as you said he's a brute, and the person he reminds me of is someone I don't like." She giggled at the confused look Hou gave her.

"And what about the person I remind you of?"

"He's a brute as well, but in his case he means well. You also remind me of his Mother."

"I see." The boy said sadly and looked down at his hands which had nails longer and sharper and harder than any humans should be. "Do you think I'll ever find someone like my Father did?" Glancing at the boy out of the corner of her eye she refrained from answering immediately.

Hou believed her to be either a yokai or partial yokai like himself. Because of this he was more open with her than even with brothers. And this was a common line of thought for the boy. Although his looks were that of a teenager he was mentally at an age where a person in this time would have had a family. She felt bad for the boy after watching him view the people his age as they went about normal lives. Yet even for his maturity he was viewed as a child.

"I know you will." She finally answered thinking about the loss of her brother Yosho and how she had found someone in Tenchi.

"But how will I know?"

"You just will." She said knowingly and remembering Tenchi's face. She didn't catch how the boy gazed longingly at her or how he memorized her actions. Even among these people who lived basic harsh lives she held herself as a princess and unwittingly it had influenced Hou's behavior.

"Even if he doesn't know it?" Her sister who had been quiet up until now added with an irritating smugness to her voice.

"If that woman would just accept that he loves me then we could live happily together." She huffed just before a bright light flashed in front of her. The three shielded their eyes as at the top of the steps appeared the control room for the dimensional tuner, Washu stood triumphantly at the front. Behind her was a bound and gagged Mihoshi sleeping against the controls.

"Washu-sama!" "Washu-neechan!" Ayeka and Sasami cried out and hugged the woman.

"Ouch ouch ouch, let me go." The red head said and was able to get away. "Looks like you two are doing well. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes let me just go grab my things." She said happily and hiked up her pants to head quickly down the steps. Hou kept pace with her easily.

"You're leaving?" The boy asked sadly.

"Of course, Sasami and I have been waiting for Washu-sama to come."

"So you're leaving?" He asked again as they reached the bottom.

"I just said yes Hou." Shaking her head she reached her temporary home and started to gather her's and Sasami's good clothing which had been stored away.

"Do you have to?"

"Yes, we don't belong here. It would be wrong for us to stay."

"But why not stay? My Mother stayed and she was happy. At least that's what everyone tells me."

"I'm not your Mother Hou."

"But I want you to stay."

"I'm really very sorry Hou but I must go." Giving the boy a hug she grabbed the last of her things and started for the shrine again. Behind her Hou stood in the doorway watching her leave. His hand gripped the door frame tightly enough that the wood cracked, splinters digging painfully into his hands.

**X X X X X X**

"No Katsuhito lives up actually at the shrine, it's about halfway up a hill, I live at the house which is at the bottom next to a lake." She corrected as the discussion made its way back to her. Ranma was sitting with Rin-ohki in lap along with Ranko, Yuka, and Sayuri in a group of four seats on the train. In the next set of seats were Nodoka, Akane, and Ukyo. Apparently it was Yuka and Sayuri's turns to grill her with questions. She was also a she again after having turned back to male with a quick bath, but while walking had been struck by that little old ladle lady who had hit her before her day at Furinkan.

"And you live with five women?" Sayuri asked.

"Yea and Tenchi, it's his place. His family owns the shrine."

"So what do you have to do there?" Yuka's turn.

"Mostly just clean up, we have some fields but Tenchi takes care of those."

"Do you ever switch?" Ranko asked.

"Nah not really. Sides I think Tenchi likes the time alone, Ayeka and Ryoko never really leave him alone if he isn't working."

"I think I can understand the feeling." Ranko said teasingly to Akane and Ukyo through the space between seats. They each had to take a moment to think before giving off a mock cry of indignation before everyone but her was laughing.

"I don't get it." Scratching the back of her head she suddenly noticed that the band Washu had given her was missing. Fumbling she checked to make sure it hadn't fallen out around her. "Ah man Washu is not going to be happy." She groaned.(2)

"Why would she do that?" Ranko asked.

"Uh well I lost what I had my hair tied back with, it was uh kinda expensive."

"Well it must be at the house, I remember you having it last night but not in the morning." The other red head suggested, nodding she wondered when it had happened. Was it when she had fallen off the roof? Or maybe during the brief spar with Genma. She couldn't remember taking it off or having it on when taking a bath so it had to be one of those two times, nothing else she had done could have caused it.

"What's up with your hair?" Yuka started. "Do you use something to make it stay up like that?"

"What do you mean?" Turning her head she caught her reflection in the window. There wasn't any change to the front but the back was sticking out in an arc, that while shorter, looked like Ryoko's hair. "Heh heh, it just does that."

"Kashimahama. Kashimahama is next," Came a male voice over the speaker system. Conversation stopped as the girls around her started to grab their things. From there it wasn't long before they had walked out of the train and into the street.

No one had asked but she thought the least she could do was to carry Nodoka's bag. The born girls made small talk as they walked the distance to the cottage leaving her time to think. She had wanted to spar with Ryoga, but with how little of a challenge Genma had posed she didn't think the lost boy would be that much better if the opportunity had come up. Even after such a short time training with Katsuhito, or as she knew now Yosho, it had helped develop her speed and reactions even further than they had been. There was something still tickling her mind about Yosho and how he fought, like she had seen it before.

It was depressing, but the abilities she now possessed gave her a huge advantage over humans. When she finally figured out how to teleport the only people who would be able to keep up so she could push herself would be Katsuhito, Ryoko, and maybe Tenchi if he ever got serious. 'If Washu wanted weapons she certainly aimed high.'

Following she found the town they moved through to be a mix of newer and old. It was definitely a farming community but with the beach so close resorts and newer stores had popped up to cater to tourists. Around 10 minutes later they arrived at their destination; a large cottage a short distance away from the ocean. After Nodoka had used a key to open the door they all filed in to deposit the luggage. Inside it was a modern cottage with a large main room and a single bedroom. The girls immediately went about discussing sleeping arrangements

"Do you mind putting my suitcase in the bedroom Ranma?" Nodoka asked while checking the small kitchen area. Doing as requested she used the time to check out the accommodations some more. Inside the bedroom was a large bed, a dresser, and not much else.

On her way out she picked up Rin-ohki who had been investigating, leaving her slippers behind she went out to sit on the beach. Enjoying the cool breeze that came in off the water it made the hot summer day far more bearable. The last time she had been this close to the ocean had been traveling with a panda back from China while being chased by Shampoo. They had ended up traveling on a small boat that had nearly capsized. It had been better than swimming, but not by much.

Behind her the cottage door opened and the girls filed out wearing various swimsuits. Nodoka followed and left the door open to sit down in a chair on the small porch at the front to read. The group was smiling and laughing as they passed her before taking off in a single rush to dive into the water.

While it was relaxing to sit around she quickly grew bored. All she could do was wait for Washu to come and bring her home. Blink blinking and frowning she tried to figure out when she had come to think of the Masaki shrine as home. Sure her real family lived there, but eventually Tenchi would move out or get sick of their attentions. She also wanted to leave Earth and see the galaxy. Maybe even take Ayeka up on her offer to visit Jurai. Laughing to herself she couldn't think how lucky she was for that. She knew two princes and a pair of princesses for an incredibly powerful galaxy spanning empire. How many other 16 year olds from Earth could say that?

Watching Ranko trudge back up the beach she sat down next to her. "So what's up?" She asked breathing a bit heavily. "The water's great you should come on in."

"Nah I'm fine."

"You sure? Seems boring just sitting here."

"I'm fine."

"What's the matter? Scared of the cold water?" Ranko teased.

"I aint scared of nothin. Sides Washu should be around soon, wouldn't want to be all wet when she shows up.

"But what if she doesn't come?"

"What did you say?" She snapped at the girl.

"What if you can't go back? You said it yourself that it was a mistake that sent you here. How can you be so sure she'll find you?" The angry retort that Washu would be able to find her and everyone else died before she could speak it. The possibility did exist that she would be stuck here for a long time, maybe forever. "Sorry." Ranko finished sensing that it was something she really didn't want to think it.

"I guess you're right." Picking up Rin-ohki she sat her down on her legs to scratch her behind the ears.

"No I really am sorry, I had no right to say that, I'm sure she'll be able to find you and set things right." Ranko apologized and they sat for a minute in silence. "Did you want to go swimming?" Ranko suddenly blurted out.

"Kinda, I've never really just swam for fun." Problem being that it was cold water, hence girl, hence she would be expected to wear a girls suit. She had no problem with just wearing shorts and a tank top but there was no change of clothes. Being seen dressed as a girl didn't really factor into it, after wearing a leotard in front of a large crowd of people there wasn't much else she could do to top that.

"Well if you want to go swimming, I forgot that I had asked Ucchan to bring an old suit that should fit, I left it inside. I would have lent you one of my own but you're taller and a bit more－ ahem developed than I am." Ranko stood up and started walking back to the water. She watched the girl leave then turned her head back to the cottage, then back to Ranko, and back to the cottage.

**X X X X X X**

Back in the original reality Nodoka was waiting for someone to answer the door at the Tendo's. In her hands was a moderately sized package containing something she had believed important for a long time. Smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in her kimono she heard light footsteps coming from inside before the gate was opened.

"Oh my Auntie Saotome, what a pleasant surprise." Kasumi said sweetly.

"Good afternoon Kasumi-chan, sorry to intrude but is my _husband _here?" She asked and Kasumi started to wring her hands nervously. "So he is then?" Kasumi nodded slowly. "I see, do you think I could speak with him."

"Oh yes, here please come in. He is playing shogi with Father." Kasumi stood aside and motioned for her to enter. Following the Tendo girl into the tea room, she found as the girl said, her husband playing shogi with Soun. Nabiki and Akane were sitting at the table in their school uniforms. She resisted the urge to storm up to him and berate him for his actions. Here was the man who not more than a week ago had done something that could hurt Ranma's chance of ever having a normal life, just sitting there, calmly playing shogi like he had never done wrong. An accomplice to that in Soun was even allowing the man to live at his home, no doubt for free.

"Father, Saotome-san, Nodoka is here to visit." Kasumi introduced. "Would you like anything to drink?" The eldest Tendo asked.

"No thank you dear, I don't believe I'll be staying long." She answered sweetly and turned towards Genma who was sweating. "Husband, I have recently been given some information that greatly disturbs me. On top of all the things that you did while training Ranma." Finding herself growing angry at the memory, she took several calming breaths before placing the box next to Genma.

"At one time I thought these were important. Something to help me through the wait for you to return." She didn't make a move to stop Nabiki from picking up one of the letters and reading it.

"Letters from Genma about his training with Ranma?" Nodding at the girl's question, Akane also grabbed one as well as Kasumi.

"When we visited my son at the shrine and Genma caused that dreadful mess, he explained his training of Ranma while you three were gone." Her eyes narrowed at Genma. "I could forgive him for the harsh manner that he trained Ranma. But I cannot forgive these lies that he sent me for years on end." Shaking her head sadly she looked away from Genma.

"Recently I have visited my parents and found out something that makes your actions even more intolerable. I came today because I wanted to know one last thing. It has to do with something that you told me 16 years ago. At the time I thought it odd that the doctor would only see you, and now after all these lies, I want to know if that was one as well."

"No－No-chan I don't know what you mean." Genma stuttered and chuckled nervously. "All I've ever tried to do was to protect you from the harshness of training."

"Not that, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about. Don't try to weasel your way out of answering."

"Doctor? What doctor?" Genma asked even more nervously. She hesitated in explaining further, this was really a private matter. But looking at the inquisitive faces of the Tendo girls and the confused face of Soun she decided not to stop. If these people were housing Genma they deserved to know the things he had done.

"The doctor who did the fertility tests on us when we couldn't conceive a child. The one, who you told me, said I was infertile." Genma's reaction was all the answer she needed. Turning to Kasumi she bowed. "I'm very sorry for bringing disharmony to your home, but I must be going now."

Kasumi floundered for a response but returned the bow. Turning she started to leave when the bottom of her kimono was grabbed. Looking back she found Genma crouched at her feet looking up at her.

"No-chan please you must understand."

"Understand?" She interrupted him. "Understand? What is there to understand Genma? I left my family to be with you. I gave myself completely to you. I trusted you. And this is how my trust is repaid? By lies!"

"No-chan I can explain! Really I can!"

"Explain what? Did you think I would be so petty as to leave you after giving up everything for you, just because you're sterile? I waited 10 years for you, believed all of these lies that you sent me. And when you finally are supposed to return, what do you do? You come here, you haven't even come to our home once since you got back. How long did you expect me to wait?"

"But No-chan it was the contract."

"The contract that you came up with! I begged and pleaded with you to stay. But it had to be your way, had to be the Saotome way. And I was proud of that, proud that you accepted him. I even went along with it hoping that you would raise Ranma well."

"But it was the only way to train him properly No-chan!"

"Don't call me that." She snapped glaring down at the groveling man. "The person I married was an honorable man. But you are not that man, and I have begun to think that he never existed." Wiping away a stray tear she pulled her kimono from his grasp.

"Good bye Genma. I'll be filing for divorce and will send the paperwork to you. Do not darken my home with your presence again, for you are not welcome. I would allow Ranma to decide if he wishes to stay in your family or not. However I doubt he wants anything more to do with you." Turning she walked away quickly, not trusting herself to look back. She didn't make it to the genkan before falling to her knees and breaking down.

Back in the tea room the Tendo sisters were glaring at Genma. Shock, as they were that the man would do that to his wife, had quickly become anger. Kasumi was the first to leave and go to where they could hear Nodoka crying. Akane followed shortly and then Nabiki.

"You believe me don't you Tendo-kun? It was all for the art." Genma said in a panicked voice turning to the Tendo patriarch.

"I don't know Saotome, I don't know."

**X X X X X X**

"That looks very nice on you Ranma." Nodoka said pleasantly as she tugged on the material of the swimsuit; a navy one piece that fit decently, though she wasn't really sure on what one should fit like. But it seemed to do the job and didn't feel like it would fall off. Rin-ohki seemed amused over her reluctance and she mentally told her that just for that she couldn't go in the water.

Throwing apprehension to the wind Ranma charged down the beach. Just before hitting the water she pushed off and half jump half floated up and over them. At the apex of her jump she did a flip and tucked her arms and legs in to canon ball into the water. Feeling the cool water envelope her she had a brief moment of panic as her mind flashed back to Jusenkyo.

It passed quickly and finding herself floating at the bottom she twisted herself around before starting to kick. Swimming parallel to the bottom she found herself completely at home moving through the water. Vision was still impaired but other than that it was great. Glancing around she was able to make out several pairs of legs. (3)

Feeling a little devious she gave several powerful kicks that carried her past the forest of legs. Twisting around she smirked watching the legs move away from her. Bursting from the surface she took in a breath, barely feeling winded, she froze at the angry faces directed her way.

"Uh heh heh what is it?" She asked nervously and edged away only to be grabbed by Ranko.

"We were worried that you hit your head and were drowning!" Ranko cried out and nearly crushed her in a hug.

"You were down there for 10 minutes." Ukyo said and advanced on her.

"I was? I uh guess I lost track of time." Chuckling she tried to back away as Ranko loosened her grip until she backed into someone. Turning she found Akane glaring at her. Feeling very small under the blue haired girls glare she lowered herself into the water.

"How do you just lose track of 10 minutes under water?" Ranko questioned and turned from concerned to angry with her.

"We'll just have to show you what we do to girls who like to worry people." Akane said and cracked her knuckles. Ignoring the girl comment she ducked underwater when the group tried to get a hold of her. Surrounded she did the only thing possible and phased into the sand. Floating through the loose material she came to where she thought the beach was and rose up to the surface enough to look around. Smirking she floated up and sat down on the sand.

"Hey! Why are you looking for me over there?" She called out and suddenly found that Akane had thrown a mallet at her. 'WHERE DID SHE GET THAT FROM!' She thought just before dodging the blunt instrument of pain.

**X X X X X X**

The anger at her quickly dissipated, none of them had been particularly angry with her in the first place, she could understand that she supposed. It didn't matter at all though, what mattered was the quadruple scoop ice cream cone in her hands. It was a hot summer day, dinner wouldn't be for at least a few more hours, and Ranma was in heaven. Oh yes, she was quickly becoming addicted to the treat.

"I can't believe you did that." Akane said angrily and glared at her.

"What?" She asked and took several more licks on the large ice cream cone. "She did it too." Glancing and jerking a thumb over at Ranko who was eating a cone only slightly larger than everyone else's. Not as large as the massive one that she was rapidly eating but still bigger. Even Rin-ohki had gotten some.

"I just asked nicely for another scoop." The other red head said smartly.

"I'm going to agree with Akane-chan you went way overboard." Ukyo said while scooping another spoonful of hers in a dish.

"So where to next? This place has changed a lot since the last time we were here." Sayuri diverted attention from her gluttony. But not before she stuck out her tongue at Akane and Ukyo.

Walking with the group of girls Ranma couldn't help but be smug over how the guy working the counter had given her so much extra; which was odd, since she was wearing ill-fitting clothing while the others were in little more than swimsuits with something over top.

"We could check out that arcade we saw." Yuka added.

"We could hit up all the tourist traps." Akane threw in.

"Ooh I know how about we visit that new clothing place that airbrushes your designs?" Sayuri's suggestion received comments of approval and Ranma followed the group as they made their way down the busy street. Finishing all but the bottom of the cone she gave the last piece to Rin-ohki who ate it up greedily.

Entering behind everyone and found the place lined with designs around the wall. Racks of shirts, shorts, and other items filled up most of the floor space. Everything was labeled with a number so a person could find what they were looking for. Lining one of the walls were three air brush tables. At one sat a guy in his mid 20's, currently spraying on a custom design for a couple and the other two tables were setup for people to do their own with various people lined up waiting for their turns.

The group fractured and went off to look through the various designs on the wall or a couple books setup for people to easily find the desired design. Passing by Ukyo she was suddenly grabbed and dragged over to a book. "What is it?" She asked.

"I wanted your advice on something." Ukyo looked around and looked worried that she might be overheard. "I want to get Ranchan something but I'm kinda at a loss on what to get."

"Uh alright but why are you asking me?"

"Well you're basically the same person? Maybe if you like something she would too?" Shrugging she joined Ukyo in looking through a book. Most of it was generic junk, flowers, animals, words, and other simple items. Some of the designs around mythological creatures caught her eye but they were either too cutesy or too serious. Stopping on the horoscope ones she found that they were made of a large field of stars set against a navy background with each one being illustrated by designs written in the stars.

"One of these I guess." Ukyo blinked and looked over.

"Why one of these?" The girl asked and thumbed through them.

"I don't know, I always liked to look at the stars when I was training with Genma. Maybe she did too." Ukyo nodded and flipped the pages to land on one with a pair of fish shapes swimming in a circle.

"That reminds me, when is your birthday anyways?"

"I don't know." She admitted after a moment of contemplation. Once a year Genma would say something like 'Congratulations boy you're now this old. Now get back to training.' but she couldn't remember it being the same day ever. Her ears drooped wondering if she had even had a birthday. Was it just one more thing that she was different now?

"Hey hey don't feel bad, Ranko-chan didn't know hers until her Mom told her." Ukyo patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks Ranchan." Ukyo gave her a big smile and left her alone to go find the design. It wasn't the Ucchan she knew but she couldn't stop the smile that spread over her face. But once she was gone her face fell and she wandered out of the store to wait outside, feeling even lonelier than she had before.

**X X X X X X**

Sitting up and pushing off the thin sheet covering her Ukyo gave up trying to sleep for the moment. Squinting her eyes to try and make out the forms around her she slowly got up and tip toed around Akane to the door. Cringing as it gave off a soft creek she stepped out into the cool air, a gentle breeze coming in off the water. Taking a deep breath she sat down on a chair. It was a gorgeous night with no clouds in the sky and the moon just over halfway full.

After Ranma had helped her pick out that tshirt design the boy turned girl had become solemn and withdrawn. They had tried to cheer her up but all Ranma had done for the rest of the night was give one word answers and sit off by herself. Without knowing why she couldn't help but think it was her fault.

Ranma hadn't even changed back to male and as far as they knew Ranma was really a boy, not a girl like Ranko. And Ranko had been obsessed with being male as much as possible before meeting her mother. So maybe that meant girls trying to be boys while cursed to be a boy who turned into a girl spent more time worrying about their masculine image than normal boys who were cursed to turn into girls. Rubbing her temples she tried not to think too much about that last train of thought.

Pausing she heard something, it was faint and very muffled but it definitely didn't fit with the scenery. Standing up and looking around she didn't find anything. Hearing it again she was able to pinpoint that it was coming from above. 'Is someone on the roof? What kind of stupid burglars do they have here? There isn't a second floor on this place.' Stepping out from under the roof she crouched down and jumped up to the roof.

Stumbling with the landing for a moment, she assumed a ready stance and prepared to knock some sense into the idiot when she stopped. There was enough light from the moon that she could make out Ranma sitting on the roof with her legs tucked up against her chest. Next to her was Rin-ohki, the rabbit thing was standing on its hind legs with its front against Ranma's hip, looking worriedly up at her owner.

"Ranma?" She asked and crept up the roof trying not to make any more noise to awaken those inside. "What are you doing up here?" Sitting down next to Ranma the girl twisted herself away.

The girl sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "Just wanted… Some time alone." Blinking Ukyo wondered where Ranma got that full body suit. It was hard to make out in the low light but Ranma was wearing boxers and a tank top, while underneath was covered by a skin tight black suit from neck to toe.

"I'm not stupid Ranma and even an idiot could see something is bothering you. Was it something I said earlier?" Watching the girls back she waited for a response. When none came, she reached over and gently laid a hand on Ranma's shoulder. If Ranma had been tense before it was nothing to the feeling of steel that she felt beneath the red heads skin. "Come on sugar, I might not look it but I'm a good listener. I'd make you another shrimp okonomiyaki but I don't have the tools to do it."

"I'm not hungry."

"That wasn't really what I meant." Picking up Rin-ohki she scratched the distressed cabbit behind one of her large ears, hitting just the right spot it producing a loud purr.

"Why do people keep expecting me to talk?" Ranma suddenly asked without turning around.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Kasumi, My Mother, Nodoka, Ranko, you－ I've had more people try and get me to talk in the past month than my entire life."

"It's the normal thing to do. People talk about their problems."

"Normal?"

"Yea normal."

"Who would want to be that? Be just like everybody else, how boring would that be?" Ranma exclaimed sarcastically. Blinking she watched a tail wave angrily behind the girl. 'Since when did Ranma have a tail? Is it another curse?' Ranma spun around to stare into her eyes, she gasped realizing that the red head's eyes were actually glowing like a cats would.

"You can't do it can you?" Ranma lost some intensity to her gaze just before looking away. "You can't just look at me like a person." Gulping she couldn't immediately answer.

"That's not true Ranma, really we…"

"I'm not stupid. I can see how you all look at me. Out of the corners of your eyes when you think I'm not looking. I didn't ask to be a weapon, I don't treat people badly, why can't you all just leave me alone." (4)

"Really Ranma that isn't..." She started and more than a bit startled over the sudden venom in Ranma's voice. Rin-ohki suddenly wriggled from her grasp and hopped up on top of Ranma's shoulder. She was about to continue when Ranma vanished from sight. Looking around wildly she tried to find out where the girl had gone. But it was impossible for someone to move that fast. Ranma hadn't even flinched or moved, one second she was there, the next poof, she was gone.

Could Ranma have been transported back to his own reality? No, that seemed too convenient, but what other explanation could there be? No one could possibly have moved fast enough to simply vanish. Falling back heavily on to the roof she took one last look around. "We were just worried about you." She finished sadly.

**X X X X X X**

_'Ranko_

_Sorry that I can't stay, thanks for everything that you've done for me but I need to see if my family exists in this reality, maybe they could help me get back home. At the very least I would be doing something, I can't just sit around and wait. _

_Oh and Rin really liked you, if I can I'll be sure to come back so we can say goodbye._

_Oh and about what we talked about on my first day here and I have an answer for you. No I don't find it easier to be a girl. But I don't really feel uncomfortable to be a girl either, and I think that's what bugs me about it, that I should feel weird about it. I'm still trying to figure everything out myself and I probably could do a better job explaining it._

_Oh and could you tell Ucchan that I'm sorry? I think I did something stupid last night that I didn't really mean._

_Ranma'_

Holding up the letter Tokimi glanced down at the sleeping red head. Her eyes, a mix of violet and blue, examined the girls form. The letter burst into flames suddenly and just as quickly disintegrated. Pieces of it floated down and landed on the girls face. Ranko's nose twitched and her face scrunched up before her eyes blinked open.

Noticing her, the girl sat up quickly and changed her position to defend herself. With a serene smile on her face Tokimi cocked her head to a side watching the human.

"Who are－ who are you?" Ranko asked and took a moment to check the other occupants of the room.

"My name is Tokimi, you are Saotome Ranko, formerly living as Saotome Ranma. Daughter of Saotome Genma and Nodoka. You are approximately 17 Earth years old with dreams of becoming a violinist." She greeted and the girl before her was on even higher alert. "Relax child, I am a－ relative of sorts."

"What are you talking about? Why hasn't anyone woken up yet?" Ranko demanded loudly.

"Because I haven't allowed them to. To answer your next question I am here to fix the damage that has been done. My nephew's influence in your reality was unexpected. Normally I wouldn't do anything; my priority is to distort the normal harmony of the universe creating anomalies, something Ranma does very well. Unfortunately there are things that you are to do and Ranma's influence will stop them from occurring."

"What are you going to do?"

"Due to Ranma's nature I cannot simply reset your reality up until the point where he interfered. Neither can I erase portions of your mind which would have also fixed the issue. So I am making these memories dormant. The possibility exists that he will one day return to this reality, should that occur your memories will become active again and you will not know anything has occurred."

"I don't understand, why are you doing this?" Trying to give the girl a comforting look she knelt down next to her. Slowly she raised a purple gloved hand and ran it through the girl's unbound hair. Physical contact was such an interesting yet crude sensation.

"That you understand is not important. Sleep now and let this be nothing more than a dream." Ranko's eye lids started to close involuntarily and she quickly slipped into a deep sleep. This was the last of her work correcting the anomalies created by Ranma, only one thing remained, but for now that could wait. Brushing the girls bangs out of her eyes she stood and stepped away.

"Till we meet again Niece." She whispered and faded from existence.

**X X X X X X**

"Ooh, yea, that's it! Right hook right hook! No left kick left kick! OH COME ON!" Ryoko shouted at the arcade fighting game she was playing. Taking another swig from the fountain drink she had _acquired_ she slipped another token, taken from several kindly kids, into the slot for another life. The fact that everyone was quickly vacating the area because of her didn't cause her the least bit of concern.

"Um, excuse me miss?" A small voice asked from behind her causing Ryoko to lose again.

"WHAT?" She turned and yelled at the young guy who was supervising.

"You are uh scaring all the customers, so I uh am going to have to ask you to leave."

"Oh." Shrugging she went back to the game.

"Uh miss, that means you need to leave." The joystick snapped off in her hand. Turning around she glared down at the guy.

"See what you made me do?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. "That was on accident, I wonder what I could do to you if I tried." The boys eyes widened and his face lost all color. "Now leave me alone or I'm going to see how many bones I can break before you pass out." Ryo-ohki at her feet gave a mental groan as the guy ran away.

"Pfft, earthlings are so pathetic." Turning back to the machine she punched the screen, knocking the display and internals through the back and into another machine opposite of it. "Let's see, what to play next?"

"Halt evil doer!" One of her eyebrows rose and she turned to view a group of five teenage girls wearing skimpy skirts and giant bows on their chests, all with different bright colors. "The arcade is for the enjoyment of young girls and boys!" A blonde with twin tails of hair coming down from each side of her head yelled.

"And you're going to do what?" She asked digging at one of her ears with a pinky finger. Ryo-ohki realizing that things may get violent hopped away to a safe spot.

"If you do not leave peacefully we will be forced to punish you!" The blonde spoke up again.

"Punish me you say." She drawled and rested a hand on the now useless game machine in front of her. Gripping it tightly she picked it up and threw it at the group. The case flew out into the street and splintered into pieces as the girls were able to move out of the way. Lifting up off the ground she floated out into the street dividing the group of girls into two groups. A cruel smile spread over her face as she felt them all power up some kind of attack.

"You're just what I was looking for." She announced and looked gleefully between them.

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

Genkan – entryway to a Japanese home.

Forgot to add that Zhaan is actually a species of plant, having her be connected Tsunami in some way makes a fair amount of sense.

(1) – This is in keeping that the masu who are communal creatures who link with the strongest among them and follows. Which leads me to believe that a masu's mind operates on the same wavelength as all others. Ranma/Ranko share a similar one so Rin-ohki can connect with Ranko to a very limited extent. Of course Ranma and Ryoko take the place of head masu to the cabbits and cabbits sit one level above all masu.

(2) – Yes Ayeka is fully responsible for her predicament on Earth, how else would she just be in the neighborhood when Ryoko is first awakened? Her and Sasami didn't travel through dimensions but through time. Kan is somewhat based off of Jinenji from Inuyasha, though he has a more mischievous streak but he's still a pacifist by nature.

(3) – Fell off when Ranma took a swan dive off the roof, it'll be important soon.

(4) – Masu are aquatic creatures after all. Both Ranma and Ryoko can sustain themselves for a period of time without oxygen and do not suffer adverse effects if they are exposed to a vacuum or tremendous pressures. But they still require oxygen. However when in the possession of a gem, it can sustain them, making oxygen unnecessary.

(5) – Ranma grew up with Genma, a man not particularly known for his supportive nature. So Ranma associates personal attention to imply that he's done something wrong. I would like to tack on to this note that the shirt Ukyo bought earlier was going to be a surprise for Ranma not Ranko.

Hyper Dimensional beings only truly exist in one place. Unlike normal dimensional beings who exist throughout the multiverse sharing a limited connection between each other. So that means there are only truly one Tokimi, Tsunami, and Washu. There are rare instances where a being similar to them exists but those are cases of them projecting pieces of themselves into those realities.

The three brothers

Keisou – 27 'Dispute', named this because neither Inuyasha nor Kagome could agree on a name.

Kan – 24 'Peace loving', Kagome suggested this because their first child was so rambunctious that she hoped this one would take after his name.

Hou – 20 'Sacrifice', Inuyasha named him this because Kagome gave up her life to bring him into the world.

Inuyasha's death won't really be explained any further at this time, maybe some time in the future. Suffice it to say it was epic.


	15. No Need for Cats

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

(Language that the current character does not know)

Small change, since I never use telepathy anyways I'm going to switch it over to be the tags for someone speaking a language the current character does not know, quotation marks remain as the language the character currently in perspective knows.

I'm really sorry that this took so long to get out.

**X X X X X X**

Checking her wallet once again in a futile effort to materialize money out of thin air, Ranma licked her lips and ignored the growling of her stomach. On her shoulder Rin-ohki made a pitiful mewling noise indicating her own hunger. 'Maybe I should have waited till after breakfast before heading out.' She could always scam food but there were no stores where she was.

Pulling at her ruined silk shirt she groaned. Last night had been her first use of her teleport ability. The first had sent her nearly back to the train station. After running back to the cottage to retrieve her clothing she had written a note to Ranko and left, attempting a second teleport. Unfortunately this time she had come out the other side and had been hit by some jerk driving a car, the guy hadn't even stopped to see if she had been alright. She wasn't physically hurt but it had ripped nearly a side of her shirt off and a good chunk of the right thigh of her pants.

Which meant she was now forced to wear the bodysuit. After tying the fake tail up and around her thinner waist, the problem was solved. It didn't fix the problem that she looked like a vagrant but it kept what little modesty she actually had intact.

"Meyowl." Rin-ohki protested and nuzzled her neck.

"I know, I'll get you something." Glancing around she tried to head in a more food friendly direction. Rin-ohki was her responsibility and as such she would do her best to take care of her.

Actually getting some food had been unbelievably easy. Entering into a shop she had acted as pathetic as possible and the older girl behind the counter had simply melted. Even given her a new employee shirt, that she tugged on irritably. It was cheap and the only size that she had was some fat person size, which she couldn't help but think that the destroyed silk shirt would look better with how she was swimming in it. Since it was practically a dress with how long it was.

Slipping on to a train she started the long trek to get to Okayama.

**X X X X X X**

Ducking behind a wall Usagi breathed heavily, her chestnut haired teammate Makoto fell heavily next to her. This fight with the newest enemy had started out bad. After announcing that the monster should leave peacefully they had been split up and even now couldn't seem to get a break.

"Who's idea was this?" She whined and tugged at her skirt.

"How are we supposed to fight her? She can dodge all of our attacks and we can't even get close because she's a physical fighter too."

"Maybe we could try surrendering." She suggested and got a bap upside the head. "Ouch."

"Come on we need to try and help everyone else. Once we get back together and regroup we can think of a counter attack."

"But how? It's like there are two of her?"

"That is a problem isn't it." A new voice chimed in. Both her and Makoto gulped and turned their heads to see the monsters smiling face peeking out from a wall. "I was wondering where you two went, come on back and join the party."

"AAAAAHHH!" They both screamed like little girls and high tailed it from their hiding place.

**X X X X X X**

"Fire soul!" Dodging the fireball Ryoko shot forward to close in with the dark haired girl in the red skirt. Another fireball was attempted that she dodged again by teleporting directly behind the girl and sitting in mid air.

"You smell like something." She commented and floated downwards to duck a backhand. Taking several more sniffs she kept moving out of the way by taking various uncomfortable positions in the air. "I know! You work at some shrine right." The girl jerked as if shot. "I hate shrines." She said hatefully and drew herself up to tower over the shorter girl.

"Shabon spray!" Caught up in a blast of cool water she waited for it to die down before looking down at her soaked clothes. Pushing some hair out of her face and spitting out some water she turned to the blue themed girl who had launched the attack.

"We were talking." She said and shot off a large blast at the girls feet sending her flying.

"Venus love me chain!" A chain of golden hearts suddenly wrapped around her body. Checking for the origin she found the blonde with a golden themed outfit.

"Fire soul!" This time she was hit by a fireball and when the smoke cleared she was singed all over and the hair framing her face had a few strands on fire. Coughing a small cloud of smoke puffed out.

"Yay you caught her!" The blonde idiot with the odango hairstyle called out as her and the green one came up to the group.

"Quick hit her Sailor Moon!" The blue one called out after recovering.

"Oh right! Moon princess halation!" The girl pulled a large septre from somewhere and a stream of brightly colored particles along with a small crescent of white light shot towards her. Struggling with the chain she realized that it actually stopped her from moving, phasing or teleporting out.

"This is going to hurt." She said just before contact was made.

**X X X X X X**

Munching on a rice ball that she had scammed from a kindly old man, Ranma nearly skipped down the road. Rin-ohki who was also well fed was walking along next to her making happy meowing noises every so often. While checking for Tenchi's home where it once stood in Okayama had been a bust, she had made great time to get out to where the shrine should be.

Reaching the apex of a hill that gave a good view of the home she paused and noticed that there wasn't a home at the base of the hill. Frowning but still happy to have made it, she focused on a spot in the valley and teleported there after Rin-ohki had grabbed on. Lurching on the landing she was finally starting to get used to the sudden shift in perspective, so long as she knew it was about to happen.

Looking around she noticed that there was no road or any path except for the steps. Sighing she started to teleport up the steps, continuing to practice and become more confident with the ability. Walking the final flight she found that the shrine itself was much smaller than in her reality, consisting of only two buildings, a large shrine and a small set of living quarters. The other difference that it didn't look like anyone had lived here for a long long time.

"Well this was worth the trip."

**X X X X X X**

"Way to go Sailor Moon!" Ryoko heard as she floated amid a cloud of energy. "Did you get her?" Reaching up she snapped the chain that held her and growled. The cloud was pushed away as she summoned her energy outwards, materializing as red electricity that crawled across her skin.

"WAAAAAA! But I hit her with my attack! They aren't supposed to still be here!" The blonde idiot who had hit her cried. Ryoko's eyes started to glow red. Who were these stupid bimbo's to attack her for no good reason and then be angry that she was stronger than them? They were going to pay. The kid gloves were off and this had turned from a fun diversion to a major annoyance.

"Fire Soul!"

"Shabon spray!"

"Sparkling wide pressure!"

Raising her left hand up, her gem glowed brightly as a bubble of energy formed a shield around her body. The attacks bounced harmlessly off of it. Hundreds of small light balls formed around her body as she concentrated energy before bringing them all together in front of her. Smiling evilly at their looks of fright five beams of light diverged from the ball and moved rapidly to strike the girls.

Laughing manically she floated down and over to where the group now laid on the ground. Wiping some blood off her forehead from when the idiots attack had hit her she touched down on the ground and placed her hands on her hips.

"And that'll teach you to mess with Ryoko. Oi! Ryo-ohki let's get out of here." She called to the cabbit who hopped into view before jumping up to her shoulder. Turning on her heel she started to walk away.

"Stop!" Freezing mid step, she turned around slowly to see the blonde with odango's wavering on her feet. "I wont let you get away with this."

"Get away with what?"

"Attacking us you monster."

"Monster?" She asked dangerously and took a step towards the girl. "You're the idiots who attacked me."

"You were attacking people."

"No I wasn't, all I did was make some idiot piss his pants."

"You were destroying the building."

"I destroyed an arcade game and then you showed up." She replied and patted down her clothes to try and get rid of some of the soot.

"But you're a monster." Having enough she reached out and grabbed the girl by the bow on her chest. Picking her up and bringing her close to her face she growled.

"Listen you ditz, you want me to be a monster, I'll be a monster." Raising her free hand she pointed it at the one with the red skirt. Another ball of energy formed in front of her hand. This time she would finish the job and erase these pathetic insignificant little humans from the galaxy.

"No don't please!" The girl cried out and she turned back to look at the girls pleading blue eyes. Her own golden ones unfocused.

**X X X X X X **

Reclining on the top of a wall, Ryoko laughed maniacally as Jurai burned around her. Raising a hand she obliterated a ship attempting to flee with a few quick blasts. Laughing even louder she watched the wreckage crash into the royal gardens and burst into flame. Raising up off the wall she floated down to the ground watching as people fled the destroyed ship.

"Heh hehe hehehehehehe." Landing next to a group of survivors she couldn't control her laughter as a soldier attempted to attack her. Catching his blade with one hand she reached out with the other to grip him tightly around the throat. Lifting him off the ground she licked her lips.

"No please, leave us be! I beg of you." He was able to choke out just before she threw him back with the group of injured. Tiny spots of light gathered around the group of six, laughing she stopped and smiled just before they exploded.

"RYOKO YOU MONSTER!" Turning she found the crown prince Yosho running towards her. Taking several steps towards the famous swordsman her face contorted in disgust as a new voice appeared in her head.

'No, return at once.' Growling at the voice, she flew up into the air to return to Ryo-ohki.

**X X X X X X **

Coming back to reality, Ryoko released the girl to slump to her knees. Floating away she stared down at her gem clad wrist that was pulsing lightly. Looking around at the destruction caused by her scuffle with these girls she felt the familiar feeling of excitement from a good fight and from causing destruction. But it was tempered by the horrible memories of her attack on Jurai and the hundreds of other similar crimes she had committed in her life.

Reaching up she gently rubbed Ryo-ohki. Her partner had also remembered the attack. "Let's go try and see if a Washu exists here." The cabbit nodded and made a happy miyah in response. She really wanted to see Tenchi again, Ranma and Sasami too, even Mihoshi and Washu to a small extent, Ayeka could take a long walk off a short pier for all she cared though.

The gigantic flash of light behind her derailed that thought. Shielding her eyes she watched as multiple versions of the dimensional tuner controls came together.

"Not more bad people." The odango idiot moaned.

"Uhhh, guess I should have set the date sooner." Washu commented and looked around. Ignoring her diminutive mother she tackled Tenchi to the floor. Sighing happily she tried to forget any lingering bad memories. Unfortunately the royal pain decided to say something.

"Get away from my Tenchi you monster woman!" Growling she stood up and squared off with Ayeka, in her anger she slammed a fist down before stalking off towards the girl when she realized that she had just destroyed the control panel.

"Oops." She squeaked just before the machine booted up again.

"My daughters an idiot!" Washu cried.

**X X X X X X**

Walking down the steps she could almost imagine herself back home. Lacing her fingers behind her head she strolled down the steps. A cross country trip on the off chance that Washu not only existed in this reality but lived here had to be up there with her top blunders. 'No following Genma for all those years sits on the top.'

"Miyah!" Looking back at Rin-ohki sitting on the step she felt through the link that the cabbit wanted to be carried.

"No way you're going to get fat sitting around all the time."

"MIYAH!"

"Alright alright you're not fat, but I'm still not carrying you."

"Miyah..."

"Hmm, how bout this, if you catch me and I'll carry you around for the day. Hows that sound?"

"Miyah!" Dodging out of the cabbit rockets way she took off down the steps. Laughing she leapt up to the top of the torii at the bottom and gave the cabbit a raspberry, the old wood creaked under her weight. Rin-ohki glowered on the ground before giving off a plaintiff miyah and shakily floating up into the air to try and reach her.

"Miy-EEP!" The cabbit was so happy to be able to fly that she started to fall. Appearing below her Ranma caught Rin-ohki and floated parallel to the ground.

"Heh that was higher than the last time you tried." She laughed at the cross looking cabbit who suddenly hit her on the nose with a paw. "Hey what was that for?"

"Miyah!"

"No way that doesn't count!"

"Mi—yah."

"Fine but tomorrow you have to walk around by yourself." Setting down on the ground she placed the cabbit on her shoulder. Rin-ohki took the opportunity to nuzzle the side of her face affectionately.

"Good afternoon." An exquisite female voice added from in front of her. Looking up she found a tall woman with strange red and brown clothing. Her eyes were an odd mix of purple and blue with the two colors split horizontally through the middle of her eyes. Coming up from her neck looked like a green tattoo that wrapped around her neck and up both sides her of cheeks.

While she looked imposing with her tall stature and hands that had slight claws, Ranma gulped and took a step back at the power she radiated. There was nothing visible to indicate it, but every fiber of her being told her that she was nothing to this woman. While there was nothing threatening about her demeanor she couldn't stop herself from shivering.

"Relax child." She said and approached till she was two meters away. "We finally meet face to face."

"Who are you?" She asked. (1)

"My name is Tokimi, you are Hakubi Ryoto, currently known as Hakubi Ranma and before that Saotome Ranma. You are approximately two thousand and three years old, though your physical and mental age is that of a 16 year old. When touched with cold water you become a girl and hot water a boy."

"So you know a lot about me. What do you want?" She asked and prepared to possibly defend herself, even if she had no clue how to do so against someone who seemed to be walking around with the ability to destroy the sun.

"At the moment I wish to thank you. You see, my priority is to distort the normal harmony of the universe creating anomalies, something that you've been doing for your entire life. In a way you could say I have a job for you."

"Harmony of the universe? Anomalies? What are you talking about?"

"Don't worry, you don't need to understand for now. Why I appear to you now is that you have something within your head that you shouldn't. And I need to ensure that such knowledge doesn't stop you from your future."

Taking a step back when Tokimi started forward, Ranma attempted to put some distance between herself and this obviously crazy woman. Trying to continue she found that her body was frozen. Attempting to teleport proved useless as she was locked in place.

"I think I can give something in return for what I will take." Tokimi said soothingly and brushed hair from her eyes. "I am sorry Nephew－Niece. But this path is the one which holds the greatest promise of fulfilling our goals. I know that it will be hard on you but if you survive we'll see each other again under much better circumstances." Without wanting to, her eyes slowly closed and she slumped to her knees. "Sweet dreams." She heard before slumping to the side asleep.

**X X X X X X **

"Ugh." Sitting up Ranma felt a firm hand stop his shoulders from lifting.

(Easy there kitten.)

"Wha?" Opening his eyes he found a tall European woman with long dark brown hair except for her bangs which were white. "Who are you?" Brushing aside the hand he sat up fully and tried to shake away the cobwebs that now infested his brain.

(Sounds like Japanese) A man about the same height as the woman but with a very muscular build added. Scratching his head he tried to figure out what he had just said. He figured out the Japanese part but the other two words he didn't know.

"Well this sucks, I should have paid more attention in English class."

(That wererat that lives with the Digger's is Japanese, and if I remember right Gina and Brianna both know it.) Giving up on understanding what the two were speaking, he took the opportunity to look around the room. Seemed like a normal western home from what he knew. Currently he was on tall western bed with the pair of Americans he guessed sitting on chairs off to the side. Everything looked clean and presentable but it smelled like there were a few dogs that lived here.

(I'll go call Gina, hmm I wonder if that rakshasa is available, she would be a big help.) The woman pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. Finding Rin-ohki laid out next to him he probed through the link for a response and found that she was just sleeping. Sighing in relief he noticed an unwanted biological function trying to get attention.

"Um, is there like a toilet I could use?" He asked hoping that they might understand. Racking his brain he tried to remember the English classes he had.

(I think I know what you're talking about.) Standing the tall man gestured for him to get up. Standing up he followed him out into the hallway. The walk ended when he opened a door to a combination toilet and bathroom. Thanking him he stepped in and accomplished the everyday task. Washing his hands in the sink he splashed his face and rubbed at his eyes to get the gunk out.

The last thing he remembered was being at a run down version of the Masaki shrine. But it was hazy and trying to think past getting there just made it slip away even more. Drying off his hands he tried to focus on the moment. Right now, what mattered was that he had somehow gotten into an English speaking country. So on top of only having the wrecked clothing on his back...

'Wait, that isn't right.' Looking down he found that his red shirt and black pants had been restored to new. 'Wow I must be really out of it not to notice this, ugh, and wasn't I a girl too?' Idly picking at the silk material he stepped out of the door and ignored the tall guy to head back to where Rin-ohki was sleeping. As he entered the woman closed up her phone and put it back into a jean pocket.

(Brianna said she'd be right over.) The brown haired woman said and leaned back.

(Must be a slow day for them.)

(A slow day? For them?) They both shared a laugh.

(Yo! Anyone home?) A new female voice called out.

(Come in Brianna!) The woman yelled back. (Real bored.) She added to the man. Ranma ignored the English speakers for the most part as he gently stroked Rin-ohki who was slowly waking up. The cabbit gave off a small yawn and a happy but sleepy miyah.

"Aren't you the one who's up first usually?" He joked and scratched her beneath the chin.

(Morning! Sorry to barge in but you kinda said to come as quick as possible.) A blonde girl with a black stripe over her left eye and even taller than the other two stepped into the room wearing clothing that clung to her body like a second skin. (Wait Ranma!) The girl was suddenly shocked. (What happened to you?) She asked and inspected him.

"Do I know you? I think I would remember someone like you." Scratching the back of his head he stopped and looked down at Rin-ohki in his lap. "Hey wait you understood her and told me, that's cool I didn't know you could do that." The cabbit smirked in response.

(That's who we thought it was at first too but he doesn't smell like Ranma and is obviously not a werejaguar.) The older woman said. (And it's kinda hard to tell humans apart normally, let alone ones of a different ethnic group.) She finished sheepishly.

"Oh no, not again." Slapping his forehead he realized he must have traveled through dimensions all over again. 'Wait smell?' Sniffing his armpit quick he didn't think he needed a bath. (2)

"Not what again?" The blonde asked in somewhat accented Japanese.

"Great! You can understand me. Listen this is going to sound strange but I'm from a different reality and got transported here through an accident with this device my Mom made. Though I'm not really sure how I got transported this time. But I guess she finally came back and got me and something else happened. So I gotta wait for her again." The girl thought for a minute before answering.

"Actually that's not that strange considering some of the stuff I've done. Gina's gonna have a cow when she hears about someone from a parallel reality. Say do you have a curse? Cold water turns you girl hot water boy?" Sighing in resignation he nodded. Just his luck to keep finding people who knew about the curse.

"Heh just like the Ranma I know, just a sec." The girl turned back to the other two people and started talking in English again. Which Rin-ohki happily translated and sent the information to him. He ignored it for what he noticed about the girl, she had ears like his.

Did this girl go through the neko-ken too? Or was there some other reason that he didn't know about? Which then begged the question of whether or not she was born with them or got them through other means? Picking his legs up to sit cross legged on the bed, he planted his hands on his ankles and frowned while trying to figure it out.

"Alright so here's the deal." Broken from his stare he looked back to the girls green eyes. "It's not much but you can come stay with us, Gina can probably think of something that'll help you get back where you belong."

"Thanks I think." Breathing out a sigh of relief he wondered how best to berate Washu about not making dangerous devices that keep sending him to weird places.

**X X X X X X**

Stretching out and rubbing his left shoulder Ranma followed slightly behind and to the right of this new girl. Rin-ohki sat on his head happily taking in the sights of the rich neighborhood they were in. Wide open spaces and big houses were things she had seen but this was almost an overload. Every house had it's own large plot at least the size of the Tendo's and Saotome. They weren't as big as the Miyake's but they were very close.

"Ok I get how you know my name, but um, what is yours?" He asked.

"My name? Wow I'm really sorry I'm Brianna Diggers." The very tall girl held out a hand towards him. Looking down at it confused she continued. "You're supposed to shake it."

"Oh." Sticking out his hand she clasped his hands and shook them up and down. "Hakubi Ranma and this is Rin-ohki." He gestured with his eyes at the cabbit laying on his head. "She's my partner."

"Nice to meet you." The girl smiled at him before releasing his hand and reached up to pet Rin-ohki for a moment. "What a cutie pie. I bet you'll have fun with my peebo's."

"Yea, so um how do you know the other Ranma? And he's not a girl is he?"

"A girl? Nope he's just about the most macho guy you could ever meet, though he does have this really sweet side." The blonde girl said with some affection to her voice. "How we met? Well about a year ago my family and a few friends were vacationing in Japan. Long story short, several people got knocked up and the Ranma I know ended up married to my best friend."

"Alright." Scratching the side of his head he tried to imagine what she was talking about. "But what does knocked up mean?" He asked and Brianna nearly tripped on.

"It means pregnant."

"Oh...OH!"

"Er, this may sound weird but do you have weres in your reality?"

"Weres?"

"I'll take that as a no. Well I better give you a run down before we get to my house. Have you ever seen a movie with a werewolf?"

"Once a long time ago, kinda stupid if you ask me."

"Right well throw that out the window and forget it since those two you were just with are werewolves."

"Really? I thought I smelled a dog but it didn't look like they had one."

"Better not let Jetta hear you say that, there's about three things you should know about lycanthropes. First is that they are just people like you or me and don't just go around attacking people. Second, they have three forms, a human, an animal form, and a hybrid form. My sister Brittany or Cheetah will probably be in her hybrid form so she'll be about a half a head taller than me and will be sporting a fur coat and a tail. And the last thing is if you have anything silver, keep it as far away as possible. That's pretty much it."

"So you're telling me your sister is a werewolf?"

"Nope she's a werecheetah."

"Oh." Shrugging he didn't see what the big deal would be. It wasn't that he was that used to strange things but with how casually Brianna was talking about this kind of stuff she had to believe it, he wasn't exactly normal himself. But there was something about the word cheetah that he should remember.

"Don't worry it's really not that complicated, just ignore outward differences, if you're ready here we are." Making a huge gesture with her hands Brianna motioned towards a large three story home with an attached garage. "Come on in I'll introduce you." Entering the home underneath an overhang created by the second floor they entered into a living room area with a large tv, two couches across from it and a door.

What caught his eye were the two mechanical things sitting on the couch watching the tv. They both looked like small animals with box like bodies and four round protrusions for legs. One had pale pink and white coloring with a top shaped like a hat and a pair of large round glasses. The other was a blue and silver theme and looked more animal like with two large ear like protrusions coming off the front and a long tail with a ball on the end of it.

"What are these things?" He asked and stood next to them. Rin-ohki took the opportunity to take a much closer look. Getting close to the blue and silver one which had for some reason closed it's eyes she tentatively sniffed at it.

"These are two of my peebo's. Don't worry their self destruct is turned off." Looking dubiously at the tall blonde he tried to figure out why she would have to add that last part. "Girls introduce yourself and try to use Japanese around him."

(BOO!) The blue one yelled in a synthesized female voice then laughed hysterically when Rin-ohki jumped off the couch to duck behind his legs. (Hehehehehehehe noob.)

(Peebri!) Brianna admonished and glared at the machine. (Be nice.)

(I'm sowwwieee.) It apologized in a sickeningly cute voice.

(Like we haven't heard that before.) The pink one said as if it was a well worn line for the other. "Hello I am Peegi it's nice to meet you." It greeted in perfect Japanese and scooted over to the edge to smile pleasantly at him. "This miscreant behind me is Peebri."

"Do I even want to know where Peebrit is?" Brianna asked and sat down on the arm of the couch. Both of the little mechanical things actually froze up. "Ugh what is it this time?"

(Nothing!) Peebri said hastily.

"I have no clue." Peegi added sounding far more sincere than the other.

"If I find out either of you had any part in some shenanigans you'll be doing the chores that you neglect for a week." Both peebo's seemed to shrink into themselves under Brianna's gaze. Catching up to the conversation after Rin-ohki had translated the last bit, Ranma had to wonder just what kind of place he had landed in this time.

**X X X X X X **

Peebrit was stealthy, Peebrit was silent, she was a thief in the night. The fact that technically it wasn't night had been noticed by her, but a careful adjustment to her optical sensors gave her the illusion that it was night out. Her choice of camouflage wasn't the best either, after catching the movie Predator with the other peebo scouts she had chosen a brown, maybe Brittany's eyes worked like the movie monster? It was a logical conclusion in her mind since Brittany was a predator.

Unfortunately brown over top of yellow, silver, and purple didn't exactly look right, nor did it actually help her blend in with any part of the house. Which in hindsight would have been better to just stay with her usual coloring.

Hopping up on top of the kitchen table she turned her movement controls down to their lowest level to make herself silent. There before her was the great monster Tunacron, her large form was sleeping at the table, the last nine tuna cans sat in front of her folded arms. Two weeks it had taken her to amass and save the beautiful tuna cans from Tunacron, with any luck it would be a short time before they were all saved.

Rolling up to the small pile she grabbed one with her mouth port and kept the click noise to a minimum. Feeling immensely satisfied that another can would safely be tucked away she started to creep away when a sudden feeling of doom befell her. Slowly turning towards Brittany's sleeping form she found that Tunacron was now awake, her head raised enough where a single furious blood shot eye could look at her.

Freezing she desperately hoped that Brittany's eyes were based off movement. That didn't stop her from cranking up her movement controls and shifting all her power away from non vital subroutines. Brittany slowly sat up, an audible growl coming from the last werecheetah.

"Hey look over there!" She shouted and shot off the table like a jet off an aircraft carrier, not waiting to see if her attempt at a diversion had worked. Out the door and traveling into the living room, she zipped past a set of legs where some furry animal was crouched at and disappeared under the couch. Stopping she spun around and hoped to shoot out the moment Brittany found her hiding spot.

As soon as she had gotten under the couch there was a horrific crash that she figured was Brittany crashing into a wall then almost a second later a bone crunching noise and then apologizes in rapid fire Japanese. Peeking out she surveyed what had happened.

"Ohhhh Peebrit's in troubbllleee!" Peebri sing songed. Whimpering she rolled back under the couch.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma's first reaction to the gigantic cat that crashed into the doorway without notice was to shriek cat and teleport as far away as possible. Well that wasn't his first thought, no that went along was. 'Oh right cheetahs are big cats from Africa.' But right after that was the irrational fear of cats and following that was the terror that Rin-ohki suddenly had by being on the ground and with the cat's eyes directly on her.

As the cabbit attempted to jump up his leg, protecting her became the first priority. The large cat moved with speed he had never really seen before to come at Rin-ohki and he acted without thinking. The whites of his eyes turned a pale green and both his iris and pupils becoming a single golden color. One moment he was standing casually, the next he was crouched in the path of the cat with his left elbow outstretched to meet her face.

There was a crunch and the large cat woman was directed to the side causing her to slide heavily into the wall. Blinking repeatedly his eyes slowly reverted to normal. Wincing he pulled a tooth from where it had been embedded in his arm.

(Owwieee.) Looking over he now had time to get a good look at his crying attacker and was quickly bowing and apologizing. At first he had thought it was a large cat but now he could see that it had to be Brianna's sister from the description.

She was obviously very tall, even sitting on the floor he could see that, the second thing was that she was covered in a layer of dense white fur except for the sides of her arms and legs which were gold with black spots. Even her hair was a mix of this white, gold, and spotted coloring. The girl was muscled but not overly so and most of it appeared to be in her legs. Now that she wasn't snarling and chasing something around on all fours the fear of cats was only causing him to be very nervous and not outright terrified.

(Hooyu?) The cat girl asked and clutched her broken jaw.

(This is Ranma from a different reality, looks like you two hit it off.) Brianna said and examined Brittany's jaw.

(If hurs.) The girl moaned.

"Shouldn't we take her to a hospital?" He asked shocked over how little they seemed to care that he had just broken a girls jaw and knocked out several teeth.

"You aren't magic or a werecreature are you?"

"No."

"Then she'll be good as new in about an hour or two."

"But I destroyed her jaw, she's going to need surgery or something."

"Really don't worry about it, sides you were just defending yourself. I'll go get something to fix up your arm." (And you some ice.) Brianna switched to English to talk to her sister before standing up and leaving, but not before giving Peebrit a glare.

Brittany groaned and shakily stood up. Standing up quickly he gave out a hand to the woman, making a point to not look at her. Rin-ohki who had gotten over her shock was now sitting on the couch next to Peegi sent a mental snicker his way.

(Anks) The woman got out and grabbed his hand, nearly losing his balance as she hauled herself to her feet, he couldn't help but wonder just how heavy was she? (Orry ou ieeing you)

"It's no problem." Taking his hand away he scratched the back of his head.

(Here's your ice!) Brianna called out from the destroyed door and chucked a bag of ice wrapped in a paper towel to Brittany. The girl caught it and gingerly placed it against her jaw before sitting down. "Ranma come on in here so we can clean that up."

"Uh right." Stepping through the destroyed door and taking a left into a kitchen, Brianna was digging through a medical kit next to the sink.

"Here, use the sink."

Nodding he turned on one of the knobs and held his elbow underneath to wash off the blood. Gritting his teeth he felt the painful shift to female from the cool water, the action aggravated the injury and caused the flow of blood to increase even more than it had been.

"Probably should have used the hot water." Brianna commented and turned the other knob on and stopped the cold. The hot water quickly caused a painful reversal. "Sorry, had to get you back for hurting my big sis." Giving the tall girl a weak glare he conceded the point. He felt bad enough as it was, fighting girls wasn't high up on his list of things to do, breaking ones jaw out of reflex made him want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

(Alright, what's all the commotion?) Another female voice demanded and looked between the living room and the kitchen. (I'm trying to get some work done and Brittany is destroying our home again.)

"It's alright Gina, I'm taking care of it." Brianna answered and rolled her eyes.

(Two questions, one why are you speaking Japanese. Two what is Ranma doing here and what happened to him?) The blonde girl came into the kitchen and crossed her arms, her gaze going between them and her foot tapping expectantly. It took him a moment before Rin-ohki translated her speech so that he could understand.

"Well this is Ranma from a parallel universe and Brittany decided to make a good impression. I offered to let him stay until his ride comes to pick him up, thought he could use one of the open rooms in your lab. He only speaks Japanese so I'm just being polite." Brianna answered before he could. The new girl raised and eyebrow and analyzed him.

"Really?" She asked Brianna.

"Really."

"No kidding?"

"No kidding."

"Jinkies." The girl's blue eyes narrowed and he gulped at the very Washu like look she gave him.

"I know that look Gina, let the kid have some time to get used to our brand of crazy before you try any experiments on him."

"Oh poo you're no fun. And to think my own sister thinks so little of me that you would assume my first thought was whether or not I could check him for temporal anomalies, variances in his quantum mechanics, and even his gravitational constant."

"Maybe because I know you." Brianna chimed in and tapped her head.

"Right, well I'm Gina Diggers, it's nice to meet you Ranma." Gina held out her hand and he shook it. "Sorry about Brittany, I'm sure it wasn't anything you did she just gets excitable."

"Uh nice to meet you." He returned and scratched the back of his head.

"Miyah?" The trio turned to see Rin-ohki hopping over to him.

"What's this?" Gina asked and knelt down and presented her hand so Rin-ohki could sniff it.

"Rin-ohki, she's my partner."

"Partner?" Gina asked and picked up Rin-ohki to pet. "Like a familiar?"

"Familiar?"

"Well mages sometimes create animals that can be used as servants or even protection."

"No she's not like that. Actually, she's going to be a spaceship."

"Spaceship?" Both blondes asked as Brianna joined in coddling the cabbit for a moment.

"Yea, she's called a cabbit. My sister's has Ryo-ohki."

"You have a sister?" Brianna asked and gave up on petting the cabbit to grab some medical stuff to start wrapping up his arm.

"Heh I kinda just found it out a few days ago actually."

"Interesting." Gina commented and gently rubbed the small red gem in Rin-ohki's forehead. "Do you mind if I do a couple tests on you two? Nothing invasive, just a couple small things." A very predatory gleam came over Gina's eye's. Ranma had a sudden vision of Gina dressed up like Washu and begging him to let her do tests. He promised himself not to make fun of Tenchi anymore.

"Uhhhh no thanks." Rin-ohki had a similar feeling and jumped over to sit on his shoulder.

"Later then." His face fell realizing that she was just like Washu and wasn't about to let it go.

"Actually Gina do you have any idea on how we might help Ranma get back?" Brianna asked.

"Hmmm." Putting a finger to her lips Gina looked up and to the right. "Lemme go check some of my data and get back to you. Dimensional travel is out of my area of expertise. Earth to Jade I can do yea, but a parallel world? I gotta tell ya I'm a bit intimidated by the idea. Why the sheer power required must be immense if there are energy fields that keep the realities separate." Gina suddenly flipped over to english and started to speak rapidly and walked off.

"Um is she ok?" He asked and pointed to the doorway.

"Yea she's fine, though she may lock herself up in her lab for a day or two. Don't worry about it, she does this all the time, it's best to just stay out of her way."

**X X X X X X**

"Sasami!"

"Aah!" Falling over Sasami rubbed her arm that had impacted with a tree root.

"You're sleeping again, don't you know you have to finish your studies?"

"I know." She pouted and quickly picked up her book that had been discarded for a wonderful afternoon nap. 'And it was so nice out too.' Standing above her with her arms crossed was Misaki.

"If you knew you would know how important it is to get an education. Now I expect you to have the next three chapters read by the time I get back."

"Alright." She whined and opened the boring history book. Looking up she watched her mother stalk off back towards their home. As soon as she was out of sight the book was once again placed off to the side. "Pfft, like I'm going to waste today learning about stupid old Jurai history from before Grandma was born."

Standing up and dusting off her blue dress she skipped off into the meadow to wander amongst the flowers. Grabbing several white flowers she started to try and braid the stems together. Humming to herself she wandered aimlessly. Having no luck with the flowers she placed one at the base of each of her pigtails and dropped the rest. Taking a seat next to a small stream she decided to take another nap.

No sooner had she closed her eyes than she heard someone whistling. Opening her pink eyes she turned to a small path nearby where a white cabbit was walking on it's hind legs, wearing a waist red waist coat, carrying a large pocket watch, and an umbrella. He paused and looked at his watch before jumping up in fright.

"Oh my whiskers! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" Hopping madly down the path she decided this was much better than a nap and got up to follow.

**X X X X X X**

"Hey I was watching that!" Turning towards Peebrit, Brittany gave off the best growl she could with a broken jaw. For good measure she turned up the volume, the peebo wisely chose not to press the issue as Brianna and Ranma came back into the room speaking in Japanese. Brianna took a seat close to her and Ranma sat as far away as possible with his head down.

Looking at the situation differently now that she wasn't worked up over that little devil of a creation Peebrit stealing all her tuna. Sniffing she could make out the new smell in the home and this was definitely not the Ranma she knew. He may have looked cat like but he didn't smell like one. Her nose wasn't the best but it was developed enough where she could pick him and apparently his pet out.

Feeling a painful crack emanate from her jaw she whined as it set itself back into place. This was the second time she had broken her jaw. Being her older sisters werecheetah bullet shield whenever on expeditions meant injuries were expected and usually sudden and painful. Trying to move her jaw a tiny amount cause pain to shoot through her face.

"So Cheets what started all of this?" Brianna asked and casually reached down and yanked Peebrit out from under the couch. The fact that the peebo still had one of her precious tuna cans in it's mouth told the whole story. "Why do you have a can of tuna?"

"Um..." Peebrit dropped the can of tuna which she reached out and caught to hold protectively.

"Out with it."

"I think I can explain." Peebri said triumphantly and hopped off the couch to sit in the middle of the floor.

"The fact that you know enough to explain means you're just as guilty." Brianna pointed out causing Peebri to sweat.

"Well you see what I was getting at before I was so rudely interrupted was that I really didn't know anything, nope nothing at all."

"I would like to just point out that I have not been included in any of this." Peegi added as Peebri wandered off to do whatever it was that little monster was usually doing.

"I just wanted to protect art!" Peebrit shouted and drew attention back to herself before continuing in an approximation of a shy voice. "I just wanted to save the beautiful tuna cans from being destroyed."

Lifting up the can in her hand she looked at the can. She never had before, always being too interested in the wonderful tasting fishies inside. But now looking at the can she couldn't stop her eyes from watering at the beautiful sight before her.

"Ooeefull." She mouthed and chose to ignore Brianna's next comment.

"I don't get it."

Neither noticed that Peebrit took the opportunity to scoot off and hopefully avoid any punishment.

**X X X X X X**

"Wait!" Sasami cried out as she followed the white cabbit.

"Oh dear I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! No time to say hello goodbye, I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" He was now madly running and she follow him until he ducked into a large burrow in the side of a small hill. She paused for just a moment before crawling into the hole. It was a tight fit at first but it then widened out.

"I wonder where this goes." Blindly crawling on all fours the ground suddenly stopped and she tumbled over. "AAAAAAAH! Oh no, Ayeka is going to kill me for killing myself in some cabbit hole!" She lamented as she fell. Which was taking an awfully long time she noticed. Her tumbling finally ceased when the wind caught up her dress and it ballooned like a parachute slowing her descent to barely a crawl.

"Well this is different." She commented and crossed her arms, hoping no one was looking up. As the tunnel grew darker she noticed that a light was coming up from below and then a lamp started to float by. Not one to take things for granted she reached out and flipped on the switch. Instantly several other lamps came on around her showing off that she was now in some kind of room.

All manner of strange objects floated by, odd pictures, small cages, clocks, and normal things like a desk with books on it. Staring in wonder she watched herself in a mirror falling the opposite way. "Oh dear." Continuing a grandfather clock passed by chiming the top of the hour and then she landed in a rocking chair. "Hey this is pretty nice." Leaning back it suddenly rocked forward and she fell out to float in the air again.

The walls suddenly closed in at a narrow point that she had to squeeze through. This seemed to be the end since she suddenly came to a soft landing on a tiled floor with strange shapes made into it. There in front of her was the white cabbit once again running off.

"Hey wait!" She cried and took off after him down an oddly curved hallway.

**X X X X X X**

"We're back!" Stryyp called out as he entered his home. In one arm was his daughter Tiffany, the other a bag of groceries, and floating behind him with telekinesis were five more bags. Thropan followed behind him carrying his own son Nathen and a single grocery bag. "Oh hello." He greeted when he found his wife, sister in law, and strangely enough Ranma sitting in the living room.

"Uffin!" His excitable wife yelled and ran up to squeeze the breath out of him. "Oo an eye aby." Brittany cooed at their daughter, who as usual remained silent but gave his wife an ecstatic smile.

"Brittany why are you talking so funny?" He asked and directed all the grocery bags to go into the kitchen and set down on the counter.

"Ell I." His wife started by opted to just look embarrassed.

"Brit went on a tuna rampage and Ranma here knocked her silly." Brianna answered and he turned his attention to the other male in the home.

"That doesn't exactly look like Ranma Brianna." He said noticing how nervous the boy was, for some reason the kid was very close to shaking.

"He is an he isn't, this is Ranma from a parallel world. He doesn't know English but." Brianna held up a strange reddish rabbit creature with a bright red jewel in it's forehead. "Rin-ohki translates and tells him what we say, kinda like if Genn was here." It took him a moment to digest the information but it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities for the people he knew.

"I see. Well it's nice to meet you Ranma, I'm Stryyp'Gia Brittany's husband and this is Thropan, Gina's husband."

"Hello." The werepanther of the house greeted before continuing. "This is Nathen and that is Tiffany." He indicated the children.

"Is something wrong?" Stryyp asked noticing that this new Ranma was now shaking like a leaf and rapidly looking between everyone but Brianna.

(Ca ca ca ca catttttt) He had heard that word before spoken by people that knew the Ranma he knew.

(Ranma what is it?) Brianna had switched over to Japanese.

(Don't like cats.) The boy responded and his cat like ears were laid back. Brianna gave Ranma a concerned look before turning back to them.

"I'm not sure what it is but would you mind going back to your human form Thropan?"

"Sure I guess." The black haired edge guard member shrunk a great deal as he changed forms.

"Gowa way for jaw to heal." Brittany added and he noticed that his wife was missing a tooth and several were in weird directions.

(Ranma, listen Stryyp isn't a cat he's actually a Kryn so he's an alien but he looks like a cat alright?)

(Not a cat?) The boy's eyes locked on to him and looked him up and down. (He looks like a cat.)

(So do you a little bit.) Stryyp wasn't sure what Brianna remarked but it caused a visible wince in the boy.

"Um I'll just go start putting the food away." He suggested.

"Thanks, I'll try and find out what's up with him."

"I'll help uffin!" Brittany must have decided now was a good time to smother him with attention. Thropan also decided to follow, since as usual it was their job to prepare dinner.

**X X X X X X **

Sasami found herself at a set of doors after following the white cabbit. Opening the first she found another that was slightly smaller. Opening that she found another smaller door, and then another, and another, and another, until she came to one that was just big enough for her to fit through. Squeezing through she now was in some kind of dark forest.

Squinting she tried to find some kind of path or evidence of the white cabbit. There she saw a flash of white and took off after him. "Mister Cabbit please stop!" She yelled before losing sight of him again. Stopping in a clearing that was open to the sun she humphed. "This sucks." She muttered darkly and sat down on a hollowed out log to think.

Sasami became aware that someone was looking at her and hurriedly looked over but couldn't find anyone. "Odd." Feeling it again she looked in a different direction except there was still no one there. "Come out if you're here." She called out and moved her eyes front.

"AAAH!" Falling backwards off the log she scrambled to stand up and to glare at the two men who were in front of her. "Who are you?" She asked and looked between them. They were both adults, one was taller with long dark hair and a mustache, the other was shorter and fatter and was bald with round glasses. They stood side by side looking straight ahead without blinking in matching red and yellow outfits. Small baseball caps were on their head with small yellow flags protruding from the top.

"Well? Aren't you going to say hello?" She walked around the log and stood in front of them. "How rude." She commented and looked at some writing on their collars. "Tweedledee." For the taller one. "Tweedledum." For the shorter one. "Are those your names?"

"Quite right." Tweedledee answered.

"Hey why do I have to be Tweedledum?" The fat one asked and elbowed the taller.

"It describes you very well I think." The taller one returned the elbow.

"I don't think so at all, I'm very smart actually." This time the fat one kicked the taller.

"Who's the one who turned his kid into a Cheshire cat?" The kick was returned.

"Not my fault, he was always."

"Well it was a uh nice to meet you." She waved to the now fighting duo. "But I really must be going." They didn't even look at her as they were too busy knocking each other around the clearing.

**X X X X X X**

"Alright what's up with the cat thing?"

"It's nothing." Folding his arms he turned away from Brianna.

"It's obviously not nothing. Don't make me call the other Ranma, which I'll probably do anyways, and see how similar your two lives are." Ranma paled at that idea. Ranko had a near identical life to him and she had been a girl to start, the idea of a male version of himself being stuck in the exact same circumstances was almost set in stone.

"It's uh, well I don't like cats." He admitted.

"Like? You looked downright terrified that you would be attacked."

"Well it didn't help that when I first got here I was." He snapped and turned to glare at the blonde girl. His harsh gaze died instantly when he saw that she was concerned about him. "Sorry."

"It's alright, you have every reason to be angry over that." The tall girl sighed and brush one side of her bangs back behind her ear. "Then again if you want you could stay over at our parents house. Ya know since aside from me and Gina everyone here is a werecat."

"But why do you care though? Is it just because you know someone like me? You don't even know me." As soon as he said it he clasped his hands over his mouth. 'Oh great now I'm getting into some kind of emotional discussion again, what's wrong with me?'

"Um are you alright?"

"Of course I'm alright." He boasted and tried to look confident. "I mean look at me, I'm stuck in some alternate reality and I have no way to know when I'll get home and I got no clue what I should do." Letting out a breath that blew his spiky bangs from his face he slumped into his seat. "Gah what is wrong with me? I've never been like this before." Burying his face in his hands he tried to shut off his emotions like he usually did.

Ever since his second change in form he had been all over the place emotionally. It was to put it mildly frustrating, he was trained to keep himself calm and confident and to make others get emotional. Thinking back the brief spar with Genma had made him angrier than usual at first but once they had started he had been happy to be able to get back to his old life for a time.

As much as he hated his old man for what he tried to do and was probably still trying to do, he still missed him. How could he not miss the man who raised him? Regardless of how cruel and petty he could be, he had still been there. Then again, was he only thinking that because that was all he had known? 'Man I wish I could remember mom.'

**X X X X X X**

"Momma!" Five year old Ranma cried out and shuffled into the kitchen.

"What is it sweetie?" Nodoka asked him and turned from where she was preparing dinner. Sniffling he pointed to his knee, his gi pant was torn and bloody. "Oh honey here sit down." She picked him up under his armpits and moved him over to a chair in the corner. Crying silently he watched her dig in a cupboard and pull out a band aid and grab a wash cloth before coming back to him.

Gently she pulled back the cloth and used the wash cloth to wipe it clean. Wincing he wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. Blinking he found that she was already done and a tan band aid was now placed over the scrape just below his knee cap.

"There all done." She said and smiled up at him from where she knelt on the floor. "So what happened this time?"

"Poppa was teaching me how to fall and he got angry when I did it differently than him, then when I tried it his way I slipped and fell."

"Boy! Where are you!" Ducking behind Nodoka he clutched her kimono as Genma stormed into the room.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma stiffened as the unexpected memory, at first he wanted to disregard it as some figment of his imagination but unbidden more memories started to come to him. Specifically what had been happening before that one. How he had been using his flying ability to support himself while doing the fall training. More started to come to him with one leading to another and others skipping to completely different ones.

They weren't all about training, some of them were him bringing home small animals. Like the multiple times he had brought home, shiver, cats, dogs, rabbits, even a fox. Looking at Rin-ohki who had moved into his lap, he realized that he had been trying to fill the gap without her around. (3)

"Hey." Blinking he came back to the world around him and turned to see Brianna's concerned face. "You zoned out for a minute there."

"Sorry." He apologized and gently rubbed behind Rin-ohki's ears, the cabbit producing a soft purr.

"You're so cute!"

"Ack!" Brianna latched on to his side and squeezed him. He was intimately aware of the two prominent soft objects that were pressed into him and for probably the first time he was very uncomfortable for just that reason. Which to him was another strange thing, being capable of sporting a rather impressive, if he did say so himself, pair of breasts herself erased most of the male mysticism with the anatomy.

"You're just like our Ranma when he gets all pouty and worked up about something!" Doing a remarkable impression of Tenchi and nervously trying to get a word out, and that word was 'huh?'

(Everything alright?) Able to turn his head enough to see Thropan standing in the doorway.

(I think so. Hey Thropan can you go get my phone so I can call Ranma?)

(Sure where is it?)

(Should be right on the counter there.)

(Ah so it is. Here you go.) Brianna released him and caught the small phone. Flipping the lid open she rapidly hit a bunch of buttons. He was slightly put off that he had been put to the sidelines so fast, but it saved him from answering any embarrassing questions.

(Um hello?) Ranma heard come from a voice surprisingly like his own.

(Hey Ranma this is Brianna, you're not still nervous about that phone we gave you are you?)

(No no!)

(It's not going to bite.)

(But that last one you gave me blew up, I was picking pieces of plastic out of my face for a week.)

(Well this one wont, but that's not what I'm calling about, you're never going to guess who showed up at Jetta's today.)

(Um who?)

(You.) Brianna giggled and smiled mischievously at him.

(Me? What is it some kind of perverted mirror clone? Evil spirit bent on taking me over? Happosai's revenge? Tanya escaped and made a golem of me? Although that one really wouldn't make a lot of sense, then again none of the others have either. Um copycat ken? Me from the future come back to warn myself about something? Tell me if I guess it.) Gulping he wondered just what kind of life his counterpart had lead in order to be able to list off all of that in the span of 10 seconds without a pause.

(None of the above stud muffin, it's just you from a parallel reality.)

(Oh－ that's it?)

(That's it.)

(Neat, mind if we stop by? Never met some version of me not out to make my life miserable.)

(Sure I'll tell Stryyp to expect you and you can have dinner. I think he's making tuna burgers.)

(Ranma stop drooling on the phone!) He heard a feminine voice yell in the background.

(I wasn't!) His own voice responded. (Hey Shechan, Brianna just invited us over for dinner to meet some alternate reality version of myself, you in?) There was a pause. (Yup she's in, be there about 4? I gotta do some training with Calandra and Raphiel, they've been slacking ever since that mess with the wabbits.)

(Gotcha, seeya then.)

(Bye.) Brianna closed her phone and set it on a coffee table inbetween the couch and the tv. "Well I gotta go administer some punishment to Peebrit and Peebri. If you need anything don't be afraid to ask."

"Uh right." He responded and watched the girl saunter out of the room. On top of that he wondered what had just happened? One moment she was grilling him on why he didn't like cats, the next it was something different, and now she had left. "Do you have any clue?" He asked Rin-ohki who shook her head the negative. Idly scratching at his bandage he wondered when he would get splashed just to aggravate the injury.

"Mind if we watch Sci Fi? There's a Doctor Who marathon on today." Blinking he looked down to see Peegi still sitting calmly on the couch. "What? Not a fan?"

**X X X X X X**

Moving in the general direction of the white cabbit Sasami couldn't help but think that she was lost. Not that it mattered with how fantastic everything was becoming. Since currently she was walking amongst giant flowers that towered like giant buildings over top of her.

Brushing aside a giant leaf she stepped into another clearing this time filled with multi colored smoke. Dodging out of the way of a flying letter she found a person sitting upon a mushroom and smoking a hookah. Stepping up to the mushroom she looked up at the person sitting on it and found that it was a red haired girl with crab like hair, but what was strange were the six arms and six legs she had.

"Um, excuse me." The girl on the mushroom took a leisurely pull on the hookah and turned to look at her with a bored expression.

"Uh whooo aarreee youuuu?" She asked and a smoke O, R, and U formed in front of her.

"I'm Sasami Masaki Jurai." She greeted happily. "It's nice to meet you."

"Why I am the great Lil Washu." The girl said lazily and took in more smoke from the hookah as well as crossing each of her three sets of legs. "The greatest source of knowledge in all of Wonderland."

"Really? Than can you tell me where the white cabbit is going?"

"The white cabbit you saaaaayyy." Washu blew a smoke A at her. "Why he will have gone to seeeeey the Queen of Hearts."

"Thank you so much!" Turning she was about to run off in a random direction. "Uh which way would that be?"

"Oh but I don't know that. For that you'll have to ask the Cheshire cats."

"But I thought you said you were the greatest source of knowledge in all of Wonderland?"

"I know enough to know that no oooonne can know everything." Coughing from the smoke 1 that fluttered into her face she looked cross at the caterpillar woman. "To find them, you need to go in that direction." Two of Washu's arms pointed to her right while a third pointed to the left. Washu suddenly frowned and slapped the offending hand before it also pointed right.

"Alright, thank you very much."

**X X X X X X**

"So what are those trash can looking things again?" Ranma asked Peegi as they watch some strange British show.

"That's a Dalek, there big meanies who hate everyone else."

"But what can they do?" On screen one of the Daleks shot a green beam at a woman and the screen cut to a view of her skeleton before she fell over dead. "Nevermind."

(Excuse me Ranma?) Looking over at the doorway he tried not to shiver to much when he found Stryyp standing there. (You can understand me right?) Nodding. (Well I made some sandwiches if you want one.) Stryyp looked down at his hands which had a tray with food and a glass of water on it. Without wanting to his stomach made itself known and he licked his lips. (I'll take that as a yes.) The tiger striped man laughed and set the tray down on the table in front of him.

Stryyp left and quickly returned with his kid in arm and feeding her with a bottle. Sitting down gently Ranma watch him take care of the little kid before he spoke again. (I'm sorry if my appearance causes you distress. But I can assure you that I am not a cat, aside from my outward appearance I am not that much different than a human.)

"Nah it's my bad, it's not something you did." He responded, forgetting that Stryyp didn't know Japanese.

(Ranma said that it's his fault and nothing you did.) Peegi translated and then added. (He also wanted you to give me some money so I can get this really cool game that just came out.) Snapping his head towards the pink robot she instantly laughed nervously.

(Right...) Stryyp rolled his eyes and took a seat a respectable distance from him. Eying the food on the tray he had a small but heated debate in his mind. On one hand he was hungry, and on the other this food had been made by a cat. No matter how much he tried to rationalize that fact that this guy wasn't a cat but some kind of alien who looked like cat. Which hit a bit too close to home for him, because in the end he was a cat like alien.

His stomach made a small noise to remind him of his duty and he could feel Rin-ohki was just as hungry, so hunger won out and he snatched one of the sandwiches and started to eat rapidly. "Hey this is really good." He'd had tuna before but this was a lot better.

(Don't really need a translation for that look. But when your wife is as addicted to tuna as Brittany is you learn a few tricks.) Stryyp supplied and he finished two others quickly, giving the final one to Rin-ohki who happily put the food away.

(Someone say tuna?) A Brittany asked with a sultry voice as she strutted into the room. Turning to the woman his jaw dropped at what she was wearing and the fact that her jaw had apparently healed with a couple hours time. 'What an intimidating ability.'

(Thought I'd go with a Harry Potter theme for this year.) The cheetah girl pulled out a wand from somewhere and spun it between her fingers. (Too much?) She asked noticing their shocked looks.

(I think you're stunning, but isn't that a bit much for handing out candy?) Stryyp responded as carefully as he could.

(What? I got everything covered.) The woman twisted in several directions and appraised herself.

(Well you have worn more revealing things.) Stryyp admitted and Brittany sauntered over to sit down on the couch. Ranma finally recovered enough to close his mouth.

Brittany was wearing a skin tight skimpy outfit that he vaguely associated with some kind of witch. She had a large hat with the conical top flopped over backwards. The brim was triangular with the front extending far out in front of her face. The actual clothing was black and showed a large amount of cleavage, the front and back were separated but tied together with several tiny clasps that went up both sides and the material hung down to her lower calf. (4)

(Didn't you get dressed up a little early though? Trick or treating isn't supposed to start until six.)

(Just getting into the spirit of the thing.) She huffed and took Tiffany from Stryyp and took a turn feeding the girl.

(Well I think you look lovely.)

(You better.) Brittany said and Stryyp in response kissed her on the cheek.

(I've finished punishing－ good golly that's some getup Cheets.) It was Brianna's turn to gape.

(See I'm already making an impression. Which reminds me what are you wearing Brianna?)

(Actually I totally forgot, guess I could throw on some of my power armor if I can't think of anything, the kids always get a kick out of that.) Brianna took a seat next to him and picked up Peegi. (And how's my one good girl doing?)

(I'm doing great Momma!)

(That's good, keep up this good behavior and I'll buy you that game you want.) The pink peebo's eyes grew and took on a wet look.

(You mean it?)

(Of course I do.)

(YEA!) Peegi squealed and made little hugging motions with it's round legs.

(Now which episode is this?) Brianna asked and placed Peegi in her lap.

(The parting of ways.)

(Nice that's a good one.)

(I hope you don't start being as nerdy as my sisters Ranma.) Brittany directed his way.

"Well my mom is the 'greatest scientific genius in the entire universe' as she likes to say, so I hope it's not inevitable." He replied and realized that he had slipped into expecting them to understand him.

(Wait, did I get that right?) Brianna asked. (I just can't see Nodoka being a scientific genius. She's nice yea but a genius?)

"No, Nodoka isn't my mom."

(Oh right, alternate reality and all that, so what's your Mom's name?)

"Washu."

(Then how do you know Nodoka? I mean if Washu is your Mom wouldn't you have said 'Who's Nodoka?')

"That's cause Washu is my Mom while Nodoka is my adopted Mom." He answered and played with Rin-ohki by dangling a finger just out of her reach as she tried to bat at it.

(That's cool, me and Brittany are adopted too.) About to respond with something he stopped and realized what he had just said. (Something wrong?)

"I need to go get some air." Raising Rin-ohki to his shoulder he slipped off the couch and left through the front door. No one tried to stop or talk to him and after gently closing the screen door behind him, deciding to go sit in the large tree next to the house he stepped by some small piles of leaves created by Peebrit and Peebri who were pushing them together. Coming up to the large trunk he jumped up and on to a larger branch near the bottom. Getting into a good position to look out he took in the view of the neighborhood. Scratching at his bandage he wondered if he should just take it off. He didn't heal as quick as Brittany but he healed fast and by now it should be nearly scabbed over.

"Least these people are nice." He said to Rin-ohki and the cabbit nodded. "It wouldn't be so bad trying to make it back to Japan but I get the feeling we wouldn't find anybody." Hearing the door opening again he looked over to see Brianna exiting the house. The girl looked around before seeing him and walking over.

"Do you mind coming down?" She asked and shrugging he slipped his legs over the side and dropped to the ground fast enough not to be noticeable that he was floating down. "Seems like something a bit more than teenage angst is up with you."

Taking a seat against the base of the tree he ran his hands through the front of his hair. "So? You never told me why you care."

"Give and take huh?" Brianna stretched out on the grass in front of him. "I guess it has to deal with a lot of things. But I can see that getting stuck in a strange reality would be hard and everyone I know would do the the same. It's not a matter of something making me, it's just how we are. They're just turning to me to work with you because I can speak Japanese and Gina is too busy with some experiment and taking care of her son, and well I'm better at it than her."

"Alright, I guess that answers my question."

"So how about my question? I totally get that you have a phobia about cats and if it's that serious I think you should go talk to someone and try and work through it. I just don't understand why you would get worked up about being adopted. I'm adopted, Brittany's adopted, and there are a few other people I know who are. We're the last group of people that would ever use that against you."

"It's cause of Genma." He started and tried to plan out what he was going to say. "It didn't happen often but he'd start talking about how he was from a samurai family and how great he was because of it. I never realized why I wasn't included in his speeches and I assumed that I had to prove myself worthy. And I was so proud that I had the opportunity to be part of a family like, proud that I got to carry on that legacy."

"I guess when I was in that last reality it started to hit me that I didn't have any of that. I'm nothing, I can't even say when I was born because I don't know if I was, I'm just some failed experiment, all cause I'm not some unfeeling weapon. Now I have no clue what I'm supposed to do. Before it was all about martial arts, all about being the best, but now." Trailing off he looked around expecting Genma to leap out at any moment.

"I'm not even sure I want to still do that. Say I become the best, beat everybody, what then? Do I spend eternity fighting for some title? What reason do I have to prove myself when I can't ever be part of all that stuff Genma preached." Breathing out a haggard breath he tore up some grass and let it fall from his hand.

"Sorry, I don't expect you to understand." Rin-ohki started to nuzzle his cheek and he reached up to pet her. It was calming do things like this with the cabbit and it was hard to imagine life without her again.

"Actually I do." Looking back at Brianna he couldn't figure out what her facial expression. "I understand that pretty well actually."

"Yea and how is that?" He asked divisively.

"Cause I'm an accident that occurred in Gina's lab when her and Brittany were trying to cure a curse."

"You are?" He hadn't been expecting that.

"I am, I'm the combination of Brittany and Gina brought to life by a curse that was supposed to give them increasingly bad luck. You haven't tried to kill your Mom have you?"

"No, I would never do that." He said with conviction.

"That was what I did to my sisters. I thought the only way for me to be a person would be to get rid of the originals. I nearly tore the house apart and was very close to killing Gina when Dad showed up and was able to remove the curse. Even after everything I did they accepted me into the family without a second thought. So don't think you're alone in being different than other people." Brianna wiped at a tear that had tried to come from her eye as she finished sadly.

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"Sorry to lay that on you." Brianna crawled forward and took a seat next to him against the tree. Inspecting the cat like girl Ranma could now see a little of both sisters in her.

"So that's why you have..." Reaching up he tugged on one of his ears.

"That would be the reason. I got some of Brit's strength and speed, and some of Gina's intelligence. You said you were a failed experiment, what did you mean?"

"Me and Ryoko were supposed to be weapons for the Galaxy Police, cept we weren't what they wanted. I don't really know much else."

"Kinda sounds like Benji."

"Who?"

"He was this guy who was made as an attack dog for this evil dog named Dr. Peachbody." Seeing his questioning look she laughed nervously. "It was a while ago but he was from this alternate future where dogs ruled the Earth and it's not really important. So does that mean you're super strong and fast or something? Well ya got to be strong since you knocked Brittany for a loop."

"Nah that was more of a redirection of her momentum. But I got a few other things I can do." Smirking he teleported out into the middle of the yard. For some reason showing off made him feel a bit better. Teleporting again he appeared sitting against the tree trunk.

"Teleportation and levitation, very nice." Seeing that Brianna wasn't fazed by him he sunk himself down into the tree to his waist. "Immateriality?"

"Imma-what?" He asked and righted himself to resume his original position.

"You weren't corporeal." Continuing to give her a confused look. "You can move through stuff."

"Oh right."

"Well I think it's cool that you can do all that stuff, me I'm just fast and strong." He stiffened when Brianna slid up to rest next to him. "Please, can we just sit for a while?" Looking at her pleading green eyes he nodded and tried to relax. Watching as Rin-ohki hopped off to play in some multicolored leaves that littered the ground he tried to use some of the feelings coming from her to further his relaxation. Peebri seemed to like this idea as well and started to hop into piles.

(HEY!) Peebrit yelled and tried to drive the pair away. (Mom!) The peebo wheeled up and protested. (Tell Peebri to start working again.)

(PEEBRI!) Brianna yelled causing the silver and blue peebo to freeze instantly.

(I'm sowwwiiieeee!")

"Um how are these things so smart?" He asked as Brianna glared disapprovingly at Peebri.

"Well the first ones that I created weren't really that bright, and I've been improving on their basic programming for a couple years now. All of them are setup with a learning AI that is constantly updating their programming. I'll go in and try to clean out redundant code every so often but for the most part I just let them learn and grow." Ranma had lost her really quickly but nodded as if he understood.

"BIRD!" Peebri suddenly yelled and a green beam of light shot out from her tail and zapped a sparrow that had been flying overhead. Gaping he turned to Brianna and tried not to think of the maniacally laughing robot.

"Was it supposed to do that?" Brianna just sighed and slapped a hand to her forehead.

"It is just a stun blaster but－I really need to find that section of her AI and delete it."

FWWWOOOOOM!

Covering his ears and closing his eyes from the sudden explosion of light and sound Ranma wasn't sure how many strange occurrences he could handle in one day. Peeking out he found that two people were now in the front yard. The first one he noticed was a short girl wearing a dark green dress that went down to midthigh, on both legs were similarly colored leg warmers with her toes peeking out small holes in the front. She looked like Brittany but differently colored, light brown and white, and her hair done up in a similar style to Brianna. In her arms was a small child. Other than her cat like looks he did find himself immediately thinking that she was cute.

The second person immediately after getting done with the girl made him gape. Wearing dark red clothing, his shirt was a form fitting sleeveless turtleneck and his pants were slightly baggy while being tied at the waist and ankles. His feet were covered in similar items to the girl but they only went up to just below his ankle bone. He looked almost exactly like the girl in terms of his cat like looks. (5)

(Hey Ranma, Sheila!) Brianna greeted and stood up. The other Ranma used a pinky to poke at an ear while his other arm held a child.

(Hey Brianna.) The pair greeted.

(Raphie and Cali gave out earlier than expected, so we came sooner.) Sheila explained. (Ranchan always puts em through the ringer.)

(Well if they kept up with the routine I gave them they wouldn't be such light weights.) Himself responded before they both locked gazes. (Hey cool! You must be me, nice ta meetcha.) The other Ranma came up and held out a hand. (You alright?) He heard as his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell backwards unconscious.(6)

**X X X X X X**

Following the directions of Washu, Sasami now found herself in an even darker forest than the first. Not only was it dark with little light coming from overhead, but the trees themselves were looming figures with gnarled limbs and strange colors. Trying to make sense of the hundreds of signs nailed to them she wondered just what kind of place she had found herself in.

"This is just great, I'm even more lost than I was to begin with."

"Did you say you lost something?" A perky voice asked from above her. Jumping from the sudden intrusion she tried to find who had said it.

"Where are you?" She asked but could find no one.

"Right here." The voice answered and a large maniacal grin formed in mid air. "Oops just a sec." Two golden eyes appeared from the sides and collided in the middle before settling into position. They looked around suspiciously before settling on her and the rest of the body faded in. Laying on the tree limb was a strange woman with cyan colored spiky hair and light and dark purple horizontal stripes going down her body that continued down the long the full length of her round tail.

"Um are you a cat? Or a woman?" She asked and tried to figure it out but the girl faded from view again.

"A little of both I think." Turning she found the strange girl reclining in mid air with her hands laced behind her head.

"Well I'm Sasami, it's nice to meet you. I'm looking for how to get to the Queen of Hearts."

"Queen of Hearts? Never heard of it." The girl pulled a hand forward to play with one of the six whiskers jutting out from her cheeks.

"But aren't you the Cheshire cat?" It certainly fit that this would be who she was looking for.

"Did someone say cat?" A panicked voice demanded and another figure similar to the first appeared next to the cat girl, only this time a male.

"No she said Cheshire cat." The female answered and the male visibly relaxed.

"Ah that's alright then."

"Um excuse me but do you know how to get to the Queen of Hearts?"

"Who would want to go there eh Ranma?" The female asked.

"Yea she's nuts." Ranma agreed.

"But you just said you didn't know who I was talking about." She interrupted the pair.

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did!" She yelled and stomped a foot.

"Angry isn't she?" Eeping she jumped back as Ranma's face appeared in front of her upside down. "Jumpy to." The boy smiled a large disturbing grin as he floated in the air. The other appeared behind him in a similar position but was resting her elbows on the top of his heads and cradling her head in her hands.

"Where'd you want to go again?" Ranma asked. "Did she say Ryoko?"

"I think she said the Queen of Hearts."

"I did."

"Then you should go that way." They said in unison and point in completely different directions with every limb.

"What?" She asked confused and looked at them as if they had grown another head.

"All paths lead to her doncha know?" Ryoko said before rolling in mid air to land on her feet.

"This place is crazy." She she pulled on her pigtails and wondered whatever had made her think this was a good idea.

"On the contrary, we're all quite mad here."

"Mad?" She asked.

"Of course, why we're the maddest of them all." Ranma boasted and pointed a thumb towards himself as he lazily swam in the air.

"Why is that?" She dared ask.

"Well a dogs not mad would you say?" Ryoko interjected as she was now sitting on a tree branch.

"I guess not but what does that have to do with you?"

"Then you would have to say that a dog growls when he's angry and wags his tail when he's happy right?" Ranma appeared in front of her face with an expectant look on his face. Nodding she watched him step away. "Well we wag our tails when we're angry and growl when we're happy. So if a dog isn't mad that must mean we are." Ranma nodded to himself and Ryoko gave him a thumbs up.

"But if you're cats."

"Cheshire cats." Ranma pointed out quickly.

"Cheshire cats, then that's not growling it's purring."

"Hey don't be splitting hairs with us." Ranma jumped up and started to pace on a tree sideways.

"But I wasn't."

"Hey Ranma, you wanna go bug Washu? This girls no fun."

"Always!" The boy responded happily as Ryoko's smirking face faded from view. "Oh yea, make sure ya don't lose your head." Ranma also said smartly and motioned with his hand across his throat. His head at the end chose to fall off and disappear just before hitting the ground, his body following a short time later. "Seeya there."

"Oh dear." Feeling a bit queasy she tried to ignore the disturbing giggling that was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

**X X X X X X**

Author notes :

For those of you who are still unfamiliar with the 'New Tomboy' universe please visit (ranmafics dot com) and read up. It's under the Gold Digger section. Please keep in mind that this is only one version of it, which was compiled by Nanya (Philip Weigel), and was created by such inspirational writers as Thrythlind, Red Priest of the 17th order, Philip himself, and several others. All credit in the world goes to them for writing it. On my forum there will be a description of all the children as a result of 'New Tomboy'.

Since actually summarizing the GD timeline would be an extreme time killer for me please visit the wikipedia page since it contains a lot of summaries. Past that you're on your own, the series isn't that expensive and can be purchased on the Antarctic Press website. This will also include portions from 'Northern Edge' which can be found at (ne dot tsunami-art dot com). As well as the Peebo manga which if you've read it is where Ranma shows up.

If you want an actual date that this takes place during the GD series, I believe 'New Tomboy' intercepts it during v2 38 and where Ranma comes in is around 54 of volume 2. Although with the demise of Gothwrain and several other factors means that events up until that point have diverged heavily.

(1) – He didn't catch the episodes with Tokimi. I'm not going to go into much detail on what Tokimi looks like, any kind of image search will instantly supply you with how she looks.

(2) – This time it was Tokimi that did it.

(3) – I find it hard to believe that Ranma didn't have some time around cats before the neko-ken training, how else would he know the general behavior of normal cats?

(4) – Got the idea to include some Halloween content based on a commission Fred Perry did for his GD tangent website. Link to it will be posted on my profile.

(5) – Basically a differently colored version of what Tigra wears in GD volume 2 issue 12.

(6) – Ranma's worst nightmare, himself as a cat.


	16. No Need for Surprises

**X X X X X X** - Scene perspective shift

"speech"

'thought'

#panda sign#

(Language the current character doesn't know)

This chapter is a collaboration between me, Nanya (Philip Weigel), and Rippen Drakuzz. Which section is which is listed at the end. It's also one of the longest chapters, there are simply so many different things I could cover from the GD universe, that I purposely have to be vague. Though I did put in a lot of references and information.

**X X X X X X**

"Hey." Brianna said while patting the side of his face. "Come on, wake up." Shaking his head he opened up his eyes to Brianna smiling down at him. "Probably should have warned you about that."

"Where's－ ya know?" He asked and glanced around nervously.

"He and Sheila went inside."

"He's a cat."

"Yea, a werejaguar." Calming down he noticed Rin-ohki was sitting on his head and leaning down to get in his vision. "You going to be alright?"

"I should be." Floating himself up into a standing position he brushed off some of the leaves that had stuck to his back. "Just－ wasn't expecting that."

"Want to head inside?"

"He's going to be in there isn't he?" Gulping he wondered why both of the alternate hims had turned out to be something that scared the pants off of him.

"Don't worry he'll be in human form." He could handle that, well he could probably handle that hybrid form, since unlike Brittany and Thropan, he wasn't super tall. He just wasn't expecting to suddenly find his worst nightmare appearing before him. "Well come on." The tall girl wrapped an arm around his shoulder and directed him towards the front door.

"Wait um." Dragging his feet he really wanted to go in when ready. He'd already appeared weak once today by fainting, he had no desire to add to the list. Facing Ranko was easy in his mind when compared with a cat version.

"What's the matter? Still scared?" Brianna teased.

"Scared? I aint scared o nothin." He boasted forgetting his previous thought just before the front yard was once again engulfed in light and sound. Turning to the same spot that was previously used by the other Ranma and Sheila, this time he found three people readjusting to their new position.

The first one he noticed was his adopted mother Nodoka, although she looked older like the one from the previous reality, nothing really noticeable like gray hair or wrinkles, but he did think it weird how his adopted mother looked far younger than two of her counterparts. Her companion was a short jaguar girl who he didn't recognize.

"Another cat?" He asked nervously.

"Only about half of me." Nabiki replied and crossed her arms before turning an analytical gaze on him. "You must be the new guy." She gave him a toothy grin before sauntering over to him. Gulping nervously he watched the jaguar girl for any signs of aggression, ready to teleport away at a moments notice.

"Wait a minute, Nabiki?" He asked after getting a better look at her.

"That's my name don't wear it out."

"How many other people do I possibly know that are now cats?" He asked Brianna.

"I'll field this one." Nabiki supplied. "Kasumi is a weretiger, Akane is a wererat, so that doesn't really count, Ukyo, Kodachi, and Shampoo are all werecheetahs, and that's pretty much it."

"Wow you didn't even charge him." Briana said astonished.

"Har har, just felt like getting it out of the way lest you run off with him to your chamber of never ending nookie." Nabiki sniped and Brianna jerked as if shot.

"I'm not that bad."

"Are you kidding? The first time I met you, you were angry that no one left you any of that dust that got us all together."

"Heh heh, well it wasn't very nice not to share." Brianna said innocently.

"I don't know if I want to know." He remarked and glanced between the two females.

"Hello－ Son." Nodoka said tentatively while stepping up to him and analyzing him. Once done she quickly wrapped him up in a hug. "My son's manly no matter what dimension he's from!" Lightly patting her on the back he waited patiently for her to disengage.

"So what's this thing?" Nabiki asked plucking Rin-ohki off of his head by the scruff of her neck. Nodoka finally released him to also look curiously at the cabbit.

"She's Rin-ohki, my uh partner."

"Miyah?" Rin-ohki asked slightly confused over the strange yet familiar people, but happy to be making more friends.

"She even sounds cute!" Nodoka said and took the cabbit to snuggle.

"Maybe we should head inside before anyone else shows up." Brianna suggested.

"Which seems like a given to me. Not only is Ranma involved but another Ranma is involved." Nabiki pointed out, the girl flicked her tail and crossed her arms. "I can already tell something weird, different, or unexpected is going to happen. My only question is do you have any popcorn?"

"Hey I don't have weirdness following me." Nabiki gave him a deadpan look. "My life is actually pretty normal." If you forgot the fact that they were all aliens with some royalty all living together at a shrine and－ no that wasn't right his life was anything but normal.

"You're in a different reality."

"You really don't have to rub it in." Bowing his head he sighed.

**X X X X X X **

Treading along the path carefully, Sasami smoothed out her skirt after it was caught on a branching. Squeezing herself through some bushes that blocker her path, she tumbled forward and came to a stop in a brightly lit clearing. Pushing her twin pigtails back over her shoulder she glanced around and found a strange tune was being played somewhere.

Approaching a house, slanted to one side and with a straw roof, she was able to make out that the instrument playing the music were the hoots of tea kettles. Several small and well worn paths lead up to the house and a gate in the carefully trimmed bush that formed a fence.

Standing on tip toes she looked over the gate and found a large chair just inside blocking her view. Frowning she swung the gate open and stepped up behind it before shyly peeking around the side. Dancing on top of a long table were dozens, hundreds even, of teapots of all shapes and sizes. There hoots released clouds of smoke that hung over top of the table.

Trying to make out a pair of larger dancing figures at the other end of the table through the smoke was impossible. Ducking down, she twisted to and fro trying to find a way to see through the maze of spouts, handles, and pots.

"OHHH! A very merry unbirthday to me!" A dark skinned blonde woman with a pair of fake bunnies ears in her hair sang and splashed around some tea in a cup.

"To you?" Another woman with long dark teal hair and with a tall top hate on her head asked.

"To me!" The blonde pointed at her nose.

"To you!" The other replied and they repeated the tune again only the next time it was to the teal haired woman.

"Let's all congratulate us another cup of tea!" The blonde sang again the both knocked their glasses together before downing the tea in the others mouth. Without hesitation they poured another cup before the bunny eared girl finished triumphantly. "A very merry unbirthday－－ to you!"

Clapping to show her enjoyment at their show they instantly ran towards her. "No room!" Bounding over each other they continued to repeat the mantra. "No room."

"But isn't there plenty of room?" She asked and looked around at the empty seats lining the table.

"But it's very rude to sit down, without being invited." The bunny gear said and jabbed a finger in her face.

"I'll say it's rude." The other agreed. "Very very rude indeed."

"Oh, I'm very sorry, but I did enjoy your singing." Looking between both the blonde suddenly sidled up next to her on the arm of the chair.

"You enjoyed our singing?" She asked, her eyes watery and hands clasped under her chin.

"Oh what a darling little girl! I'm so excited we never get compliment, you simply must have a cup of tea!"

"You must have a cup of tea!" The blonde grabbed a pink teapot and poured it into mid air, a small plate and cup appearing out of mid air followed by tea and then two cubes of sugar.

"Thank you." She gingerly took the dish from the woman. "I'm really sorry if I interrupted your birthday party."

"Birthday? This isn't a birthday party!" The teal haired woman chided and snatched the tea away from her.

"Very true! This is an unbirthday party!" The blonde said happily and poured herself more tea.

'Oh my, those two cat people were right, everyone's mad here.' She looked between the pair who started trying to explain the concept of an unbirthday but didn't seem able to come up with an actual explanation. In fact they were so engrossed in arguing with each other on who had the correct definition that they had moved all the way to the far end of the table.

"Excuse me." She started and they both snapped next to her with such speed, that she hadn't seen them move.

"Tell us how you got here?" The blonde asked and laid down on her stomach, head supported by her hands, and feet lightly kicking.

"And start at the beginning! Don't leave anything out." The teal haired woman added.

"Alright, well I was studying and then I saw this white cabbit."

"Cabbit?" They both asked.

"Yes, it's, they look like a cross between a rabbit and cat."

"CAT?" A small voice cried out from the far end of the table and a small body burst from a teapot and started to scramble around the table, breaking everything in it's path.

"Quick he needs jam!"

"YES PUT JAM ON HIS NOSE!" Blinking several times, she watched a red cabbit struggle valiantly to escape an invisible enemy. Doing the wise thing, she slipped away quietly, and left them to their odd party. Frowning she felt a growing sense of unease at the situation. Beyond lost in a strange place, surrounded by mad people, and now trying to make her way through a dark forest.

**X X X X X X**

Ranma was surprised, really surprised, and he stood wondering just what was going on after meeting his counterpart once again. Not that he was human, that was easy enough to grasp. No, it was the fact that he was something like 230 centimeters tall. The girl he had arrived with was similarly as tall and par for the course with the women he had met in this universe was the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on. It really didn't help that the clothes she had on were not leaving much to the imagination, as if she had trouble finding anything that would fit her large frame.

"Sorry bout that, lemme guess, the neko-ken?" The other him supplied and shook his hand. Or more like gripped his entire hand up to his wrist.

"You know about that?" He asked nervously and glanced around.

"Let's go talk somewhere private." Unsure on what to do but not comfortable to be around the large group of people chatting in both the front room and the kitchen he followed his counterpart out into the backyard. "Lemme make another guess, Genma engaged -cough- sold -cough- you to a ton of girls for food, neko-ken goes without needing an explanation, Jusenkyo?"

"You too? That makes three- Ranma's who have been to that place."

"Three?"

"Yea last reality I was in I met another me that was actually born a girl but Genma got her turned into a boy when she was really young. And she still went through all the crap I did. Actually a bit more since apparently she lived in Nerima for a long time and had a bunch of weird adventures."

"Did you just say－ a girl－ us?"

"Yea I kinda freaked out when I first found out." The tall red haired Ranma just stared at him like he had grown another head. "She was really nice though. It's too bad I had to run out like I did. So does that mean you turn into a girl too?"

"Don't ask me to do it in human form though. Since me and Nabiki got bit by Sheila we have her birth defect which means all the strength and size that should have went to our hybrid forms went to the human ones. Truthfully this is the first time I've actually been in human form in months."

"You were bit?"

"And had to deal with a lot of scratches."

"But but Brittany bit me." He said nervously while holding up his wrapped up elbow. "Does that mean?"

"I wouldn't worry about it, Brits had the infection thing warded against since she was little." Sighing in relief he really didn't want to deal with that added frustration.

"But why don't you stay a human? Wouldn't you want to stay as one all the time?" He wondered, it would be nice to be able to go back to what he was before becoming himself again, as strange as that thought was. If just to not get comments that he looked like a cat.

"Hmm, two reasons actually. One is the obvious size, not much of a problem on Jade where there are a lot of species close to this size but on Earth everyone looks at you like a freak. Two is that I'm too strong in this form, I usually end up breaking things because I can't control it. Part of the defect I guess, Shechan's been dealing with it all her life and can't do it."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Actually would you mind if I went back to hybrid form? It's just easier than having to look down on you and you up at me."

"Do whatever you want." He shrugged nonchalantly but kept a nervous eye on his other. Quickly enough the tall man sagged into himself, clothes becoming obscenely large, then it was over and he found himself once again face to face with a cat version of himself.

Being prepared for it all he had to do was repress a shiver but it was kind of surreal. They were approximately the same height, the werecat version though was slightly taller but it would be hard for anyone to tell. True to the species he outwardly looked like a jaguar with round empty circles for spots.

His eyes strayed to Silvear's cheeks where two vertical slashes rose up about half way. His mind flashed back to a woman with a set of green slashes and impossible blue and violet eyes. Instantly a migraine made his head feel like it was going to rip in half and he clutched himself before staggering and falling against the side of the home.

"You alright?" Ranma asked in a panicked tone. As quickly as it came the migraine left and he wondered what he had just been thinking about.

"Yea." He answered absently and watched as the werejaguar pulled smaller clothes from somewhere and changed in an instant. "Neat trick."

"So what's this thing?" Once again someone was interested in Rin-ohki. "It's not a wabbit is it?"

"No she's a cabbit, her names Rin-ohki. Say hi." He looked at the cabbit perched on his shoulder who gave a happy miyah at meeting another friend.

"Good, cause those things are bad news."

"What is a wabbit?"

"The way Shechan explained it to me was that they're the result of mages playing around with rabbits and turned them into meat eating little monsters with large weapons for tails. Me, Raph, and Cal had a run in with a large pack of em a couple weeks ago. Even got to meet the Alpha which is like the head wabbit, little bastard turned this Amazon chick into a wabbit."

"Huh?"

"The alpha can turn other creatures into a wabbit, he then has a psychic hold on them and they become his slaves. She's just lucky Raph can stop the control."

"I think this place just might be crazier than my reality." Staring at his counterpart he couldn't see any sign of a lie or exaggeration.

"It's not too bad if you're here at the time. Otherwise I can see how it would be a bit overwhelming." Ranma shrugged and he noticed Rin-ohki hop from his shoulder to take position on the werejaguar's. "So then what's a cabbit?"

"She's my partner, we're like siblings in a way, round here she's helping me by translating what everyone says."

"So she's like a familiar with a dialect books capabilities."

"Gina thought that too, I don't really know about that last thing though. My mom made her and when she gets enough mass she'll be able to turn into a space ship."

"That's a new one." Picking the cabbit off his shoulder the other Ranma examined her in more detail. "So got a fiancée you like or are you still trying to figure out which one?" He asked giving him back the cabbit.

"Uh well last I knew the only fiancée I had was that tomboy Akane."

"Have you been in Nerima long?"

"I don't actually live in Nerima, I live at a shrine outside Okayama."

"So no Ucchan, Shampoo, Kodachi, or anyone else that Genma swindled for a free meal?"

"No, but I have met Kodachi in a gymnastics fight and Shampoo tried to kill me the other day till I knocked her threw a window and broke a few ribs."

"You hit Shampoo?"

"I thought she was going to hurt Rin, I was kinda out of it that day and she caught me off guard." Shrugging he didn't see what the big deal was, sure he felt bad about it but Shampoo had gotten better apparently. Actually now that he thought about it he hadn't seen the Amazon around again, long after she should have been recovered.

"So that means you haven't had to deal with Ryoga, Mouse, Cologne, Happosai, Pantyhose Taro, Ryu Kumon, Rouge, Herb, Saffron?"

"Other than Ryoga I have no clue who you're talking about." Once again he was impressed by the amount of names and probably strange events that this other Ranma could list.

"You must be pretty weak then." Ranma said changing gears.

"Weak?" He asked, insulted that he would be dismissed so easily.

"I mean I wouldn't be as strong without fighten all those people." Looking off unconcerned, Ranma's eyes glanced to his and he caught a familiar twinkle. Neither smiled but he realized what it was that he wanted, and he found himself wanting it to. He wanted to test himself, something that he couldn't do against a non fighter like Ranko, but this version－ well he was just like him.

"I'm not weak."

"Oh really?"

"Really." Simultaneously they both narrowed their eyes and struck the same aggressive pose. Rin-ohki took her cue and hopped off of him to sit a safe distance away.

X X X X X X

The last clone that he had been forced to face as a oversexed mirror clone. It was nice to meet one who wasn't out to kill him or drag him away to room and lock the door. They were both circling, attentive eyes shown back at him as his equally attentive ones studied each movement. Any minuscule weakness would be exploited, it was the game to be played, the year spent away from his father hadn't changed how he sparred.

He was also intensely curious on how this version of himself fought. Would it be the same style? What was the same? What was different? Was he strong, weak, equal? He suppressed the urge to laugh madly. Instead he focused on the task at hand and didn't allow himself to be distracted.

Since becoming a werejaguar his ki reservoir had skyrocketed and at times the excess power made him arrogant. Dealing with other magical creatures dissolved that often. Having someone call down a lightning bolt on your head can do that real quick.

His eyes flickered briefly to the holes that appeared in the nearly invisible defense. They were traps, setup purposely to sucker in anyone who could see the defense. Analyzing the movement of his counterpart, he found it to be similarly as fluid and casual as his own, but with a strange lightness that even he lacked. Which meant maybe this Ranma who hadn't been through the unending craziness of his life, had a few tricks that he didn't know up his sleeve.

Simultaneously he and his partner smirked before they closed the distance between them. Meeting, they exchanged a flurry of fast and light strikes that were meant to test out each others defenses. Instantly he knew that he held the speed advantage, which wasn't much of a surprise, speed was his best attribute after all. When he nearly struck his younger self in the head with a punch it became evident just how much.

Off balance from dodging the punch, the son of Washu took a leaping step back to avoid more attacks, a move that was read by his werejaguar opponent who followed closely with his right fist cocked back and prepared to strike. Reacting on instinct, his eyes flashing green and gold briefly, he moved just before touching the ground and avoided a right hook. Spinning he extended his right leg to deliver a heel kick to the back of the werejaguar's head.

For a fleeting moment he was proud of the perfect execution in the attack. It was an effective move to use against someone with forward momentum and committed to an attack. Pride turned to confusion and then shock when instead of connecting with the blow, a counter attack struck him in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Tumbling and turning a skidding fall to his back, he flipped lightly up to his feet.

The elder Ranma blinked his eyes in surprised, not expecting that his other would have such a quick recovery. While his cat eared nemesis stood rubbing his chest, a kick that had more momentum than he planned behind it, he debated on what effect it should have had. Most people kicked that hard would have been knocked a great distance away, he had been expecting a quick recovery, but not before he had even hit the ground.

Seeing the questioning look on the younger boys face he knew that he hadn't seen the kick coming. Which meant that he had either caught him at an inopportune moment or was not up to the task of fighting him. 'I'll have to test that out.' The smirk on his face increased slightly and the action caused a flicker of annoyance to flash over his counterparts face. Along with that, the boys eyes started to take on a more golden hue, the whites gained a light green hint.

Falling into the same familiar stance as his werecat opponent, he hadn't noticed his combat programming starting to kick in. Reaction time increased, speed, and strength grew in response without the limiter in place. His heart beat quickened and in sync with his opponent they launched towards each other. A rapid series of blows were exchanged and once again he found himself on the losing end. A kick barely missed him and a right punch to his chest was already waiting after his dodge. Forced to block, he jumped back and shook his arm to get rid of the stinging.

Ranma Silvear's smirk turned into a neutral expression at the latest exchange. That was the second time that a blow purposely done to cause some damage was shrugged off. With his leverage that blow should have hurt his arm, at least made him wince, instead it looked like it had only hit with the force of a light slap. Discouraging and encouraging at the same time he shrugged it off, this pace was nothing to his usual routine. Although he was happy to note that his younger self had just made a huge leap in skill.

Ranma Hakubi cursed under his breath and wracked his brain to figure out what was happening. He was losing this impromptu spar, badly, and he couldn't figure out how or why. The difference in their speed and strength didn't seem significant enough to justify it. They both used the same style, so that couldn't be it either. That didn't answer why he seemed to be guessing all his moves when－?

The proverbial light-bulb lit up above his head and he almost smacked himself for being an idiot. Of course he would know his moves, this was a future him, he had more experience. He was winning because he had already developed counters and variations of all the moves he used.

"Heh, not good enough to beat me." He smirked with a counters and attacks dancing through his head. "Old man." He finished a half second later and jumped into the air knowing that his counterpart would meet the challenge eagerly. As if on cue, he was met by his werecat self in a flurry of mid-air attacks.

A right punch was blocked and used to stay in the air a precious second more as Silvear altered his momentum. Lashing out with a kick that he knew Hakubi would dodge by ducking, he continued his spin to deliver a horse kick. Now it was his turn to be shocked when he felt an impact to the back of his head.

Ranma had to inwardly applaud Silvear's move. As he ducked under the first kick he was left in the perfect position to take the second attack to the face. Instead of allowing that, he did an impossible jump over the kick, and lashed out with his own. He was gratified with seeing his counterpart drop from the sky, while his new momentum carried him higher.

Recovering at the last second, Ranma Silvear landed on all fours like a cat. He turned just in time to see Hakubi land gracefully on his feet, a confident smirk now spread over his face. The younger man didn't give him time to think before launching himself into the air once again. Biting down his pride and ignoring the unspoken challenge, he didn't meet the charge this time. Instead he stood waiting to counter from his position on the ground.

Blocking an ax kick with crossed arms over his head, he followed it up by lashing out with a sweep kick towards Hakubi's still falling support leg. His eyes couldn't go any wider when the teenager's fall stopped completely. The distraction cost him when two feet slammed into his face sending him tumbling inelegantly to the grass and nearly into the moderately sized pool.

Having some doubts, but feeling reasonably certain he knew what was going on, Ranma rubbed his sore jaw and stood slowly to watch his cat eared counterpart. Obviously he wasn't a mage, but the younger male could still change his momentum in mid-air like Herb could. It certainly made things more difficult, but also exponentially more interesting.

Ranma Hakubi for his part, kept on smirking and standing. Turning the tables on this Ranma was very satisfying and it was obviously not something that happened often. He was also getting a good workout and first hand knowledge on how to use his flying ability in a fight. Dropping whatever line of thought he had, he prepared himself as the other Ranma charged him fiercely at a much more rapid pace than before. The change in pace forced him to no longer choose when to use his flight, focusing instead on evading or robbing the strength of blows that he was now forced to block.

The exchange of blows continued on a similar venue for several minutes, with his opponent countering some attacks but mostly on the defensive. As he pressed the attack, the younger male became better and better at dodging his attacks. 'He couldn't have been holding back that much, his speeds jumped nearly to match mine. Well let's see how he handles this!' Landing a front kick to the teens crossed arms, the force sent him flying backwards towards the pool. His eyebrow twitched irritably when the young man stopped a short distance above the water, and floated over it cross legged. 'So he can fly not just change direction.'

While smirking and sitting over the pool in mid air, Ranma took advantage of the lull in combat to take discreet breaths, well maybe not too discrete but he was trying. He knew he was in great shape, fantastic even, but he was being pushed beyond his limits, and if how calm the werejaguar looked was any indication he still had more to bring out. After several seconds of pondering the problem of facing a stronger, faster, better version of himself. He went on the attack again, a plan forming in his mind.

"What are you two doing?"

"Just a spar Shechan!" He called back to his wife, who had appeared at the door with several more people drawn to the sounds of combat. His opponent didn't stop, flying at him with great speed, and forcing him to block a kick that made him slide across the grass. Instantly he was on the defensive trying to find an opportunity to retaliate, Hakubi's speed had jumped once again.

The fight was keeping them close to the pool, with the group watching keeping out of the proceedings, most of the people assembled were fighters in their own right and knew not to jump in. The winner it seemed would be whoever knocked his opponent into the pool.

The red haired boy suddenly landed a punch to Silvear's stomach, an opening that he had been quick to take advantage of. He was just starting to retrieve his fist when the latter took a hold of the offending arm with a grin. Taking the blow on purpose in order to grapple with him and cancel out his advantage due to flight was genius, he though right before he was thrown in an arc over the werejaguar's head and slammed into the ground.

Preparing to stomp on the downed boy's stomach and press his advantage, possibly ending the spar. Which had been Silvear's intention. Since he hadn't taken his eyes off Hakubi, to avoid any further surprises, he was able to watch in detail how the young man sunk into the ground. His foot thumped off the ground uselessly, having pulled back on the force.

'That's different.' Hands jumped from the ground attempting to take hold of him, forcing him to back-flip several times to avoid them. 'Who am I fighting, Majin Buu?' The sound of fabric behind him was all the warning he needed and he turned to see his counterpart already preparing another kick. Unwilling to accept being upstaged he decided to go for broke. "AMAGURIKEN!" He cried out and used the speed punching technique to hammer Hakubi with hundreds of punches.

Ranma was taken completely by surprise and could do nothing to stop the punches that rained down on his body. A final stronger punch, sent him flying back uncontrollably. Thankfully for him he had been floating, so the initial barrage had sent him out of range quickly. As he spun around, his eyes widened in horror as he saw the water approaching faster than he could possibly stop in time for. Reacting out of instinct he teleported away.

Silvear gave a sigh of relief watching as the red haired boy flew back. It looked like the fight would be over at last, with him as the predictable winner. But he had to give it to his counterpart, for not having had to deal with the random crazies, he was really surprising in what he could do. However instead of the satisfying splash of water, he saw the teenage vanish. He didn't alter his flight, phase through the water, he simply vanished in mid-air. 'He teleported? Is he a mage?'

A groan behind him called his attention and he turned at the ready to see his opponent hunched over dazedly. "That hurt!" The other Ranma yelled and charged him. 'Not again.' He thought and gaped slightly at the dirty blond Hakubi who punched him in the face. Skidding across the grass, he came to a stop inches away from taking a cold bath.

**X X X X X X **

Smirking at the werejaguar now laying on the ground he rubbed at a particularly sore spot. That speed technique was beyond anything he could do, but the force behind each blow hadn't been enough to cause him serious injury. That didn't stop him from being sore all over.

Figuring out a way to counter that technique was dominating his mind at the moment. None of what he currently was thinking of could work, he was simply not fast enough to keep up, but if he saw it again then he could think of something that would. Fulling into on continuing, he stopped, feeling a strange tingle run up and down his spine.

"Huh? What's going on?" He asked and looked down at his hands as they broke out into white fur. Which judging by the pins and needles sensation all over his body, was happening everywhere.

Equally disturbing was the feeling of growing, not like the change in height from the curse which felt like a stretching and compression, this time he could actually feel all the small details as he grew. Along with the change in height and proportions a strange sensation came from his spine indicating that he had just gone from having a fake tail to sporting a real one.

"Alright I think this makes it official that anyone from Nerima is no longer allowed to get anywhere near a werecat." Nabiki snickered. "And I was supposed to have popcorn for this."

"You did this!" He cried out and dashed towards Brittany intent on doing－ something, only to crash face first into the outside of the house by misjudging his new speed. Moaning he slid down and lay in a heap at the base of the wall. "Are walls supposed to be this hard?" He asked dazed.

"Last time we had to rebuild, I reinforced the walls with materials capable of withstanding people getting rough. It's called petaplastic, though I added a few things extra to the mix." Gina supplied helpfully.

"Hey take it easy, I'm sure there's a good reason you became a werecheetah." His counterpart supplied.

"Yea cause she bit me!" He got up and made another attempt to catch Brittany. The taller and slightly confused looking werecheetah recovered at the last moment and dodged. Desperately trying to stop, he stumbled, flailing his arms and hopping on one foot but his momentum carried him into the pool. Now threatening to burst from his much abused clothes in different ways than before she rose up from the water growling like the big cat she now was. (1)

Her unfocused power arced around her body like electricity. About to attempt bodily harm on the reason for another change in species, she suddenly felt the strange sensation of all her newly acquired fur standing on end all at once. Blinking she raised her arms up and saw that she now resembled a large ball of fluff.

"I LOOK LIKE A HAIRBALL!" She sobbed and fell back into the pool with a large splash. Which had the predictable result of splashing the other Ranma. Holding up little signs the peebo scouts gave it a nine, nine, and two.

"What? There was a splash." Peebri explained at the look from her two 'sisters'.

**X X X X X X **

Sniffling, Sasami looked around at the dark woods that she had wandered into. All around her eyes and dark shapes moved. Some glared outwards at her, others appeared merely curious. "I just want to go home." She pleaded with any sympathetic ear that might be listening. A pair of disturbing giggles, male and female, were the only answer. Looking around frantically she tried to find the Cheshire cats.

As if on cue a tree was illuminated and a pair of purple and pink striped bodies were lounging up in the branches. "Hey Ryoko, think the kid's going to be alright?"

"Don't know Ranma, looks like she's gonna give up."

"Please won't you help me?" She begged.

"I don't know." Ryoko appeared beside her floating in mid air. "Weren't you looking for a cabbit?" Raising her hands the girl made them look like ears above her head.

"I was."

"Then what's stopping you?" Ranma asked slowly floating a circle around her head.

"I don't care about cabbits anymore, I just want to go home." She answered, fresh tears starting to fall.

"Hey don't be like that." Ranma patted her on the head.

"All you need to know is the way." Ryoko supplied.

"The way?" She asked.

"Uh huh." Ranma nodded. "You were going the wrong way."

"But which way should I be going?"

"The Queens way of course." Ryoko returned to a spot on top of the tree.

"Which way is that?"

"You'd have to ask her." Ryoko's tail flicked back and forth and she put a finger to her chin. "To get to her you can go that way." She pointed off into the darkness.

"Or that way." Ranma faded into existence next to Ryoko.

"Well which way should I go?" She asked, hoping that the pair would just get to the point.

"Might as well take the short cut." Ranma's tail lashed out to grab a branch and pulled it like a lever. The tree shook and in front of her a half circular cutout rotated towards her, opening into a doorway. Through the doorway was a brightly lit area with tall bushes lining a path of grass. At the far end of the path was a tall castle split into white and black stone.

Stepping forward tentatively she stopped just before stepping through. Looking back up at where the two cat people had been sitting, she found them gone.

**X X X X X X**

"Really dear it's not that bad." This universes Nodoka tried to sound reassuring and rubbed her back. Wrapped up with a towel and trying to dry off she was sitting on a bed down in Gina's lab. She was still something more than hostile over this forced change but did actually feel reassured with Nodoka around. While she wasn't her Nodoka, she was a Nodoka none the less, and the connection she had with her's must be carrying over a small amount.

(I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry.) Brittany was repeating off to the side. (This isn't supposed to happen, well it's not supposed to be able to happen, Dad turned off the infection enchantment when I was really young.)

"That I did." An older man said from the doorway. Dressed in a form fitting blue spandex suit he stood confidently in the door way and short white hair with a matching well trimmed beard.

(Dad!) Brittany yelled and was up next to the man in an instant. (Can you fix this?)

"Let me take a look." Moving around the tall woman he stood in front of her. "Gina told me you're from a different dimension and don't speak English. So I'll cast a translation spell." He spoke calmly and in the same tone as Nodoka and his hands glowed briefly. "My name is Theodore Diggers, I'm an aura mage, has anyone explained what happened?"

"Other than me getting tall and furry what the hell do you think happened?" She snapped angrily, tail lashing back and forth, mirroring her emotions.

"I suppose not. Maybe, and this is a big maybe, if I had caught it earlier but now that it's run through and changed your aura it's very permanent. As a plus it looks like you have not become a thrall to Brittany." Her face fell at the permanent comment. "I'm rather interested in how though." Turning back to Brittany. "Let me check something." His eyes closed and after about ten seconds he opened them again. "Your infection charm has definitely been reactivated." (2)

"But how?" Brittany wondered.

"A good question." Cradling his chin in his hand with his thumb and index finger. "Jetta." He said suddenly.

"Jetta?" Everyone but her asked.

"She's the only one who could have done it. Remember back when you were having trouble giving birth to Tiffany? It must have been when she bit your tail and shared her aura with you. Not only did it fix the parts of your lycanthropy that were damaged but it must have fixed the infectious part of you."

"Hey that's great!" Ranma butted in happily. "Now how do I get back to normal?" She finished flatly.

"You'll have to wait till your body stores up the needed lunar energy. Your body will naturally collect the light rays reflected from the moon and store it, which should take about a day, maybe less if you spend a lot of time in direct rays." Theo explained. "Brittany can explain the proper way to change forms in a bit but I would like to see your aura. Just to see if there are any differences between yours and what I am used to. It's not often that I get to examine a being from another dimension."

"Whatever." Looking bored with the whole thing she shifted the blanket, the tip of her tail flicking irritably.

"Fascinating." Theo said. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Uh is there something wrong?" She asked unnerved over his enthusiastic look.

"Your aura－ it's－ well normally a persons aura is unfocused moving like a cloud around a person and bleeds off at a slow rate. Yours is like a bubble around you, with no bleed off."

"Is that bad?" She asked now suddenly worried.

"I don't know, even the most well trained magic users don't have such a focused aura. The bleed off is usually an indication of how fast you'll age but even elves and dragons have at least some visible bleed off. Looking at this you could live an incredibly long time."

"Oh, I already knew that. I thought it was something serious." Frowning her thoughts went back to cataloging the different feel of her body.

"Could you explain?" Theo asked pulling up a chair to sit down.

"Well my mom is something like twenty thousand years old, my sister is around two thousand and technically I'm the same age as her, cept I was in stasis until sixteen years ago, so I guess that actually makes me sixteen."

"I'm twenty thousand years old in your reality?" Nodoka asked shocked over this information. "I must be so wrinkly!"

"What? No, you're my adopted mom, my real mom's name is Washu. And actually she looks like she's twelve, I think she has control over her age."

"Incredible." Theo breathed. "A human living that long is just－ well it's incredible."

"Oh we're not humans. Actually I'm not sure what me and Ryoko are, but I'm pretty sure Washu is from Jurai." The weirdness of the situation had destroyed whatever resistance she might have had about sharing such details.

"I'm not your mom?" Nodoka asked worriedly.

"Your my adopted mom." Feeling some hunger through the link with Rin-ohki she wondered where the cabbit was, but didn't pry into her thoughts. She could let her have her private time too.

In another part of the lab on the same floor a small reddish brown cabbit leered hungrily at all the metal food arrayed in front of her. 'So bright, so shiny, so yummy!' The thought that these were someone else's and that eating them was a bad thing never entered into her mind. Certainly if it was a bad thing Ranma would say something, right?

"Well this makes things even more complicated. I mean if you weren't human to start with then I can't explain how you became a werecheetah." Theo went back to scratching his chin.

"I might have been part human, I uh don't really know what I am or was." She said embarrassed. Shouldn't everybody know what they were?

"You must have been. Honestly all that I can do is get rid of the infection enchantment on both of you."

"But what if I want to have another kid?" Brittany asked.

"I'll be careful to leave that intact. I've been doing some research into how to leave those other portions active. My original intent was to find a way to activate them without the infection charm but I think this way will be easier."

"If you're sure." Brittany said nervously.

"If worst comes to worst I can just activate it again and then take it off if you ever have another child. Or have Jetta take a bite out of your tail again." Standing he held out a hand towards Brittany. "Now just hold still." His hand glowed briefly with a pale white light. "All done. And now you."

"Now wait a second you aren't going to do any hocus pocus unless you're going to change me back to what I was." Preparing to move out of the way she shifted nervously.

"This is just to make sure you don't infect anyone." Theo explained patiently.

"That better be all." She narrowed her eyes and watched him perform the small light show again causing a tingle to spread over her body, and as fast as it came it was gone.

"All done and that translation spell should last about a day. I'm really sorry that I could not turn you back into a human, or whatever you were, but being a werecreature is not the end of the world and if you speak with the Ranma of this reality you may even find some benefits. Brittany can I speak to you for a minute?"

"Sure Dad." The two left leaving her alone with Nodoka. Letting out a ragged breath she slumped into herself.

'Great I'm a cat now, I'm really a freaking cat.' As strange as that thought was the sudden fear she associated with them didn't well up and cause her to look around to make sure none were close. 'Am I cured of my fear?' That was a silver lining to this dark cloud. Not freaking out at the first sight of a feline was a huge plus in any light.

"You going to be alright?" Nodoka asked drawing her attention.

"Just peachy." She answered irritably.

"I'll－ give you some time alone." Nodoka gave her one last pat on the back before getting up and leaving the room. The door slid shut behind her adopted mother and she got up to try and dry herself off.

"Stupid fur." She growled and went into the small attached bathroom to get some hot water. 'Man Gina thinks of everything. All this high tech lab stuff is pretty amazing.' Washu created far more advanced things but most of those didn't look flashy or high tech. In fact it seemed like her mother purposely made everything look mundane.

There was a mirror hanging over the sink and she took a moment to examine herself. Tall, about the same height as Brianna now. Her proportions had changed, slightly longer legs and skinnier overall, except in the chest area which seemed to have gotten bigger. Splashing some hot water over her forearm she activate the curse and grew several more centimeters in height.

His male form was mostly the same in terms of changes, tall and skinny, built for speed and leg strength. Preening in front of the mirror for a few seconds he didn't think the change in species made him look ugly. Obviously he looked like some kind of cat monster. But so long as he could get back to human form he should be alright.

Running a hand through his hair for a moment, he noticed that it was no longer spiky, and was back to the way it was before his first change in species. Which meant he would have to get something to tie it back now that it wasn't defying normal hair physics.

As he tried to remove his far too tight clothing the door slid open and the other Ranma walked in, still in female werecat form. "Here, they're probably a little too big, but unless you want to run around in what you got on now, you're out of luck." Some clothes matching what Ranma had been wearing while a human earlier.

"Thanks I guess." Taking a seat again he accidentally ripped off the buttons of his shirt to actually get it off. "Aw man, I liked this shirt." He groaned and held it up to inspect all the tears and rips, dropping it to the side he tried to towel himself off.

"Yea I said the same thing the first time I changed back into a human and tore everything. Shechan thought it was hilarious."

"Got anything I could tie my hair with?" He wondered.

"Actually I do." With a roll of her wrist, a long piece of string appeared in Ranma's hand.

"What was that?"

"Hidden weapons technique, useful for all sorts of things." Taking the string he tied his hair back in a ponytail again. While he was doing it, he felt a strange pull of muscles at the tips of his fingertips, and dropped his hands down to stare at them.

"How do you live with this though?"

"Adapt." Shrugging the small jaguar girl turned and opened up the door again. "Roll with the punches and get on with your life. No use cryin over spilt milk. So quit moping, get dressed, and come on up and socialize." The door slid shut, leaving him alone and he looked down at the loaned clothes unsure on how to proceed.

He could grab Rin-ohki and run off for parts unknown. But there was no guarantee that anyone he knew even existed here, he certainly couldn't feel the distant presence of Washu that he was finally noticing the lack of. Even if he found someone, their reaction could be bad at finding a strange cat man show up at their door. And he still had to find out how to change back. Sighing, he continued to dry himself off, he could decide later.

Strangely enough Rin-ohki was having a blast somewhere.

**X X X X X X **

"How are you feeling?" Theodore asked his adopted daughter, looking at her aura and trying to understand what was going on.

"Other than the fact that I just turned someone into a werecheetah just fine, why?"

"I didn't want to tell him about it at the moment but there is a strange reaction happening with your aura." Brittany looked decidedly worried at this proclamation.

"Easy easy, all I have is second hand information on what happens to a person who becomes a werecreatures thrall. Ranma's safe from that because of his strange aura, otherwise he would be a thrall right now. On the other hand your aura seems to be trying to connect to his in order to create this connection but is unable to."

"You don't mean－."

"No I stopped it. While lycanthropy is very permanent, the thrall spell when not fully developed is very easy to break. If you need a way to think of it, imagine yourself tearing a piece of paper in half."

"Phew, that's a load off my mind."

"If you wanted my advice I would say to let Ranma come to you in order to learn how to change forms, unless he learns from someone else." Switching over to Father mode. "I heard from Gina how you two first met and I must say I am not pleased." The tall girl grew even more nervous than she was to learn earlier about the thrall effect.

"It won't happen again." She said slowly and evenly.

"Good, and I think I should talk to you about this 'costume' that you've dressed up in." Giving her, the look, Brittany had the good grace to look at least somewhat sheepish over her scandalous outfit. And considering his daughter's normal attire that was saying a lot. At least his other two daughters had started dressing more conservatively.

**X X X X X X**

A knock at the door drew his attention from cataloging the changes that had happened to his body. "Come in." Making some minor adjustments to the fit of the shirt, Dr. Diggers entered in through the doorway.

"Still feeling like yourself?" The older man asked and gave him a genuine smile. His response to stare at the man, who's smile faltered. "I suppose your anger is justified. This is my fault after all, I should have realized at the time what was going on, rather than being curious over the nature of lycanthropy."

Plopping down on the bed he drew up his legs to sit cross legged on it. "You sure there's no way to fix it? No cure?"

"It's not a disease ,even though as you are intimately aware of, it can be spread. In fact once you gain the necessary energy you can change back to human form and never have to take that or an full animal form again. Barring certain light sources and a few things you'll probably never come into contact with."

"Yea well first chance I get I'm changing back."

"Understandable. Well I didn't really come to try and influence you on your new shape changing powers."

"Can you just go away?" He asked, crossing his arms for emphasis. "Whatever you want to lecture me on I really don't care." Dr. Diggers looked taken back for a moment and then nodded his head.

"Sorry." The older man extended a hand. "I wish it could have been under different circumstances, but it was nice to meet you."

"Yea sure." Standing he took the mans hand and shook it once before releasing.

"One last thing, please don't think too badly of my daughter. If it's any consolation she is eating herself up over what she did." The door slid open and Dr. Diggers left without saying anything else. Fuming, he paced around the room. He really wanted Rin-ohki around, just for the cabbits presence, but she was having fun somewhere and didn't think it was right to drag her into his problems.

He stopped, noticing that he was moving too fast. Even with the small width of the room, only 2.74 meters, and his increased height, he was crossing it far too quickly. Another knock on the door stopped any experimentation. "What?" The door swooped open revealing Brittany standing nervously, a pair of shoes held in one hand. No longer dressed in the strange witches outfit, she now had on a pair of blue skintight shorts and an opaque white tank top.

"These are an old pair but they should still be good." She tossed the shoes to him and he snatched them out of the air easily. "They expand and contract. Gina made them with a special kevlar sole to stand up to friction." She explained chewing on her lower lip.

"Thanks, I think." Looking doubtfully at the used footwear, he wasn't sure on what to do.

"Basically I just want to know if you want to go for a run?"

"A run?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Trick or treating doesn't start for a while and traffics light."

"A run?" He repeated.

"Listen you're really fast now, and I figure I can make up a little bit for my mistake by giving you some pointers." His face scrunched up in thought.

"Fine."

"Really? Great! I'll meet you in the front." Brittany dashed off in a clearly better mood. Falling back into the air he floated and put the shoes on, finding a pair of socks inside. They were tight at first and then expanded to conform to his feet. Still they felt weird to him, since he usually preferred slippers or no shoes at all. Appearing outside, he hovered over the ground momentarily before coming to rest on the grass.

"That's a neat trick." Brittany commented, already stretching out her legs. "Is it magic?"

"No, just something I can do." He answered and waited.

"Alright first thing, is that you want to start off as slow as possible."

"Pretty sure I can do that." He grimaced thinking about his earlier and painful meeting with the wall.

"Well try and keep up." Brittany smirked at him before started off at what looked like a light jog. Unlike a light jog she was already at an intersection before he could get started. Sorely tempted to just teleport next to her, he shook off the lazy thought, using his powers like that was far too convenient. 'Aw man I am turning into Ryoko.'

Disregarding the experienced werecheetah's advice he started off attempting a normal run speed. Instantly the world blurred around him and he tripped over something. Crying out, he tumbled end over end before coming to a stop on his back. "This may take a bit." He groaned.

**X X X X X X**

"Maybe we should have just got on the treadmill." Brittany remarked from his side, he was sitting on the lawn of Dr. Diggers home, letting his now more powerful regenerative abilities fix a broken ankle. Grimacing he noted that his tail was also twisted at a weird angle about halfway down, and he was making an effort not to inadvertently move it.

"What's that smell?" He asked and sniffed the air.

"Huh?" Brittany sniffed as well. "Oh that's Akane and Romeo."

"Who?"

"Them." Brittany pointed towards a pair of people pushing a stroller. He recognized Akane instantly, but the blue haired guy next to her was a mystery. "Hey!" Brittany called out and the blue haired guy looked frightened for a moment then relaxed. Akane on the other hand zoomed in on him.

"Ranma? What happened to you?" She asked, eyes narrowing angrily.

"She gave me an std." He answered and jerked a thumb at Brittany.

"I did not!" The werecat screeched. Giving her a toothy grin, Brittany's anger faltered and she changed to look sheepish. "This is actually a Ranma from a different dimension and I accidentally bit him earlier. Ranma this is Akane and Romeo Ellis, along with their daughter Juliet."

"Hi." He greeted lamely. "You still haven't told me what smells good." The pair with the stroller looked decidedly nervous.

"They're wererats." Brittany explained, seeming to take great pleasure over the guy's growing nervousness. "Werecheetahs were basically designed to hunt wererats."

"You, you're still angry about that bell aren't you?" Romeo asked and chuckled absently.

"Not so much as the fact that every time I'm around you, you end up groping me in some way."

"Urk."

"Ro-me-o?" Akane growled. "I thought you said you didn't do that anymore." She asked dangerously.

"It's an accident!" Romeo waved his hands defensively as if expecting to be struck. Akane simmered but didn't do anything.

"Well, it's nice meeting you Ranma. I just hope you aren't a big a pervert as the idiot I know is."

"Didn't seem like a pervert to me." He mused.

"That's just because you don't know him." Akane balked. "Sorry we can't stay, I have to go make dinner." The touchy girl gave him a cute smile and sauntered past.

"Help me." Romeo mouthed as he past and he sweat dropped, the translation spell letting him know exactly what he had been trying to speak.

"Why did he just ask for help?" He asked Brittany.

"Akane's cooking is not something you ever want to try. You'll pay for it as you're eating, after your eating, and for the next three days. That's if you're lucky."

"I'll take your word for it." Watching the two leave, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the blue haired guy, if what Brittany said was true.

"So how's your ankle?"

"Huh? Good I think." Rotating his foot it was a little stiff but almost completely back to normal.

"Good cause we should be heading back, Muffin will be starting dinner soon." The girl got a glossy eyes look as she gazed longingly off into the air. "Oh tuna! Mommies coming!" Giving the distracted girl an unsure glance he rose to his feet and tested his ankle. Bouncing back and forth he found that it was completely healed.

"Wow that's handy." He commented on the impressive regenerative ability just before his tail painfully cracked back into position. "Ow." He whimpered and a couple tears forced their way out of his eyes.

"Yea just cause you recover from it quick doesn't make it hurt any less." Blinking away the tears, he stopped after receiving a particularly strong thought from Rin-ohki.

"Does Gina have insurance?"

"Huh? For what?"

"I think Rin's eating her lab."

**X X X X X X **

Skidding through a stop, something that would have made him plow through the wall if he hadn't phased through it, Ranma glanced around for a minute at a semi surprised group of people. "Uh hey." He said lamely and laughed nervously just before the house shook. Brittany who had been forced to stop outside stormed in through the doorway.

"What the? We don't have unexpected seismic activity here." Gina got up and made her way to the elevator. Cringing he waited, knowing what was happening and the horrible piercing scream that carried up from the underground lab a moment later confirmed his fears. Groaning, he sunk into the floor in hopes of getting to Rin-ohki before Gina killed her.

"MY LAB!" Coming through the ceiling he found Gina down to her knees with a look of pure anguish on her face. Laying amidst a pile of destroyed electronics was a Rin-ohki who resembled a beach ball. She was so bloated that her legs couldn't reach the ground. Laying on her back her eyes were closed and she patted the side of her girth with a paw contentedly.

"BELCH!" Rin-ohki's burp shook both of them and she spit up a large chunk of metal that clanged heavily off to the side.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Gina yelled and stumbled over debris in a mad dash to reach the cabbit. Seeing this, he darted forward as slowly as possible, and picked up the small girl by wrapping an arm around her waist and lifting her off the ground. "LET GO OF ME YOU BIG OVERGROWN CARPET!" Gina continued to yell and beat against him with her fists. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THAT LITTLE MONSTER INTO MY LAB!"

"Please stop－ she doesn't know any better－ she's only a couple weeks old." He pleaded and let the girl beat against him ineffectually. Growing bored with this after a minute he sighed and teleported both of them back up into the house. Gina was only momentarily stunned by the change of perspective before resuming a tirade about him, his ancestors, and horrible things she would do that would effect both them and any descendants he may have.

"Um－ well Rin-ohki just did something very very bad." He explained and clapped a hand over Gina's mouth to stop her from speaking. "She kinda ate Gina's lab." Said girl took the opportunity to bite his hands. "Ouch!"

"He has a gob for a pet, that thing ate everything! The only thing that didn't get eaten was the collider ring array. But my biochemical lab, my beta tech, my medlab, everything! It's all gone! Even poor Ginacom!" Slowly setting Gina down, she seemed more reasonable or at least wouldn't be able to get her hands on Rin-ohki anytime soon. (3)

"You're exaggerating right?" Thropan asked with both him and Stryyp standing in the doorway.

"I'm not." Gina stomped her foot. "You're going to pay for everything that gob ate." She growled at him and poked him in the chest. "Every penny will be accounted for."

"Well I don't really have much money." He started.

"This has happened before." Brittany supplied, grabbing Gina to pull her away. "It's not the first time someone's played with her chemistry set."

"Oh and I supposed the next time you want a new workout machine you'll go down to the local walmart and get a bowflex?" Gina started to ramble on about tread mills and other equipment. Diversion supplied, he quickly teleported to grab Rin-ohki who had resumed a semi normal but still bloated shape, and returned to where Brittany was still being berated. The look Gina gave Rin-ohki on his return almost had the word 'DOOM' spelled out behind her in large bold lettering.

"Say your sorry Rin." He admonished the cabbit, holding her by the scruff of the neck.

"Miyah." Briefly he wondered if Washu had programmed into the cabbits the knowledge on how to look like the most sad and pathetic things in existence. Because right now that's what she looked like with her large ears drooped, eyes watering, and lower lip quivering. When nearly every female in the room ran forward and tried to console the distraught cabbit he was bowled over. Laying against a wall upside down and with his eyes swirling, his counterpart knelt down next to him.

"You do realize that Gina is going to do things to you that will make the neko-ken look tame right?"

"Right now I'm more worried about these tasty birdies that won't stop spinning the room."

**X X X X X X**

"Excuse me." Sasami asked to three men who appeared to be made out of cards. There bodies were flat and wide, with legs and feet attached at the far corners. Judging by the designs these were spades. The trio stopped and turned to her from their places around a strange heart shaped tree that was growing white roses. "But what are you doing?"

"We're painting the roses red." Answered the oldest card who looked like a kindly old man and was marked as a three.

"Because Miss, we planted white roses by mistake, and if we don't fix them then the Queen will cut off our heads." The one who looked like a middle aged man with a mustache and square glasses explained. His number was two.

"Our heads!" The third, a boy in his late teens, said in a panicked voice. On the last ones chest was the ace.

"I wouldn't want that to happen, is there anything I could do to help?"

"Oh you've done more than enough dear." A feminine voice answered from behind her and she 'eeped', spinning around to find a tall purple haired woman in a red and black dress. A high ruffled neck obscured a portion of her face, along with a heart shaped fan that she held demurely in front of it.

"The Queen!" The trio immediately dropped to lay flat on the ground.

"White roses?" The woman asked haughtily and plucked one of the large flowers from a tree. "In my royal flower bed?" Her face turned beat red and she stormed over to the card trio to stand glaring over them with her hands on her hips. "Who is responsible for this? WHO? WHO SHALL LOSE THEIR HEAD?"

"Your Majesty please it's all his fault." The elderly card explained and hit the two of spades in the face.

"No no! It was all the Aces!" Now the youngest was hit in the face by the middle.

"It wasn't me it was－ was－ was－." The Ace floundered for an answer before bowing his head. "Oh just do it."

"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" The Queen yelled and threw her arms out. Instantly more cards, all with suited with hearts came up and grabbed the trio to pull away.

"But wait!" She started drawing the Queens attention. "They were just, they don't deserve to lose their heads over that. Surely that's too much." She finished in a tiny voice.

"Surely?" The Queen asked, advancing on her.

"Well yes, it was just a tiny mistake, nothing permanent."

"Tiny mistake?" The Queen's heart shaped fan was in overdrive as it fluttered in front of her face. "Who are you anyways?"

"I'm Sasami Ma'am" She curtsied politely.

"Sasami." The Queen repeated, digesting the word, and pacing in front of her. Sasami's eyes widened at the long purple and pink striped tail the trailed behind her. Slowly Ryoko faded into view floating along with her back to the Queen, mimicking her motions precisely.

"How ya doing?" Ryoko asked with a grin stretching ear to ear, the Queen apparently missing the extra voice.

"Not very well at all." She answered softly.

"Beg your pardon?" Ryoko asked louder.

"I said not very well at all." She replied with enough volume that she was sure the cat girl would hear her this time.

"WHO are you talking to?" The Queen demanded and turned to give her her full attention.

"The, um, cat your majesty." She pointed to where Ryoko floated just off to the Queens right.

"Cat?" She demanded and spun around except Ryoko had disappeared again. "What? Where?" The Queen twisted and turned still unable to find the elusive feline. Ranma now appeared floating upside down, directly over top of the Queen.

"Right there." She pointed above the Queen and Ranma was gone from view before the Queen could find him. The woman froze after looking skyward, her face taking on a particularly unhappy shade of red, and turned back to look at her.

"I'll not be made a fool of! OFF WITH HER HEAD!" She screamed and pointed a finger at her. Instantly a pair of cards appeared next to her and grabbed her upper arms.

"Wait, you can't do this!" She pleaded as she was pulled away.

"On the contrary, I am the Queen and I can do whatever I wish."

"FIFTY TWO CARD PICKUP!" Ryoko's voice called out and a large number of card men fell from the sky to bury the Queen. Immediately both Cheshire cats appeared rolling on the ground laughing madly next to the card pile.

"You should get going." The Ace of spades explained and pushed her away from the quivering pile of card bodies.

"But what about you?" She asked, not wanting someone to be killed because of her or because she ran away. Before they could talk more the mound of cards exploded, spraying card people everywhere. Standing at the epicenter was the Queen shaking with rage.

"Oi Ayeka, don't get your panties in a knot." Ryoko teased from the side.

"Yea don't lose your head." Ranma joined in and the pair snickered. With an incomprehensible scream of rage, hundreds of small wooden hearts appeared in the air around them.

"AAAH!" The card trio picked her up and carried her away moments before the area exploded in red hearts that chopped through anything they came across. In their mad dash the cards tripped over themselves and they crashed to the ground and covered their heads. When the crashing noises finally stopped, she picked her head up and saw that the hedges and most of the rose trees had been obliterated. Standing at the epicenter of destruction was the Queen who stood huffing and puffing with no signs of the two cat people.

"Take that you filthy monsters." She exclaimed and straightened her clothing. "I finally got them."

"Awwww, do you think we should burst her bubble?" Ranma asked and she noticed the pair sitting in the air like they were on a pair of chairs off to the Queens right.

"Too late now." Ryoko supplied. But before any more dangerous magical attacks could fly, the world suddenly ground to a halt. "Huh? What the?" Ryoko asked and Sasami noticed that she had resumed a normal humanoid appearance, minus the fur and tail.

"You're back to normal Ryoko-neechan." She pointed out and suddenly remembered what she had been doing before waking up in the clearing. Looking around, Washu suddenly appeared, as well as Mihoshi. The color on everyone and everything else bled away and then they all faded away. "What's going on?" She asked and looked to Washu for the answer.

"I was finally able to get us out of the simulation."

"But why is it just us? Ranma, Dad, and Jiichan were all here." Tenchi asked while patting himself down.

"It's all because of Mihoshi-dono." Washu pointed at the confused looking blonde. "Best guess I can come up with is that she was the mind the tuner locked on to after my stunningly brilliant daughter decided to crush the controls."

"Hey it was an accident." Ryoko protested, the world seeming to contract and push them all together. A new background started to appear which soon showed that they were back on the control platform.

"So what was that? It was kinda fun and scary at the same time." Sasami asked hoping to be able to visit a more rational reality. The longer they were out of the reality the more it felt like a strange kind of dream. Running over to her sister, Sasami hugged her, happy to be reunited.

"That was a constructed reality, based off a set of parameters and influenced by the mind of the one putting it in. I just cut it early before the end conditions could be met. The extra characters were filled in by a combined scan of our memories and our parts were lightly based off our own personalities."

"So what do we do next?" Tenchi asked.

"I kind of want to know why Mihoshi-san was tied up the first time." Ayeka butted in. "You never did say."

"Well I guess I could tell you so long as Ryoko-chan doesn't break anything again." Washu started to explain why Mihoshi was tied up.

**X X X X X X**

"You're lucky that I had some backup equipment in hyperspace." Gina hadn't stopped talking since he started helping her clean up the lab. Rin-ohki was pushing around or eating anything that she was given permission to. Brianna had brought in several peebo's to help out with the work which could have been a lot worse. Rin-ohki was many things but when she ate something, it was all or nothing.

"No no! Over there, one point five meters to the left." Grumbling but obliging he shifted some large computer thing over to the side. Inspecting some strange device, he was hit in the back of the head by a cardboard box.

"Quit slacking Chewie and get back to work."

"Chewie?" He asked and rubbed the back of his head for show. Behind him Brittany was snickering about something.

"I'm Han Solo and you're Chewbacca now move that server into it's temperature controlled room, and don't you dare shed all over, if I spot cheetah hair I'll know it's from you."

"Yea yea." Finishing the task, Gina came in a moment later to start hooking up wires and other things into the back.

"Thank Merlin for backups. I'll have you back to life in no time Ginacom." The blonde rambled on to herself and finished her task quickly, briefly hugging the server like it was her best friend.

"So who's Han Solo and Chewbacca?" He asked and Gina stared at him like he had just asked the dumbest question in the world and he was the biggest idiot for asking. "What?" He pouted and flicked an ear in annoyance at Brittany bursting into laughter.

"If I wasn't so angry with you and your 'cabbit' I would show you." Gina replied. "But this is all I can do without getting more components, so bring me that monitor over there so I can get Ginacom back up and running."

"This one?" He asked grabbing a large flat panel display, to which Gina nodded.

"Ugh this feels so primitive." Gina adjusted the monitor to sit directly towards her. "On the plus side I have a lot of free space now. It's going to take a while to get my lab back up to speed but maybe this is a good thing. I mean now I can start fresh and build up with only things that I know are important and get rid of the needless items I had before."

"You seem to be taking this well Sis." Brittany said coming over to stand next to the sitting blonde.

"Am I?" Gina asked adjusting her large round glasses. "I guess this isn't like those goons Dr. Peachbody created destroying my lab. This was just an animal doing what an animal does. While I'm very angry about it, that isn't going to change what happened, and the only choice I have is to just get on with things."

"Looks like having a kid made you more mature big sis. I would have thought you'd sick your hurt bots on Ranma."

"Well, heh heh, I was going to until I noticed that they were eaten too."

"So how are we going to pay for replacing everything?" Brittany asked. "I doubt Ranma here has the cash to fund it." Gina suddenly developed a nervous tick. "Hey I know that look you're hiding something."

"I've been saving."

"Saving what? How?" Brittany loomed over her shorter sister.

"I haven't exactly been honest on the take from that pyramid in the Congo." (4)

"By how much?"

"A lot."

"To think, my own sister hiding money from her dear little sister!" Brittany put a hand to her forehead and swooned. "After all I've done for you, this is how you repay me? With this?"

"Alright alright cut the theatrics. I just didn't want you spending it all."

"Would I do that?"

"You have, multiple times." Brittany opened her mouth to respond but shut it. "Ooh, looks like all but the data I was working on earlier is saved." Taking this as his cue to be done for the day, he grabbed Rin-ohki, and floated upwards to phase through the ceiling and out of the lab. Surprising some kids who were coming to the front door in costumes he waved and floated in the air.

"AHHH IT'S A GHOST WERECHEETAH!" The tallest yelled and they high tailed it out of the yard.

"Well that wasn't very nice." He noted and Rin-ohki nodded.

"Miyah."

**X X X X X X **

Dealing with brain-dead morons she could handle. Most bandits fell into that category. Just blow them up and it was done. People with small brains she could handle, she had traveling companions with no brains. Well, she couldn't say that exactly, but it sure felt like it sometimes. Someone who acted like an airhead, yep, that was easily handled. Try to ignore the headache and smack some sense into the airhead. All was easy to handle.

Dealing with all that at once in one person? Lina Inverse was sure that this was all Xellos' fault somehow. The fact that he was sitting there enjoying her suffering didn't help any.

The problem? A new arrival to their world. A tall, tanned, busty (much to Lina's chagrin) blond with less brains than Gourry and an even bigger klutz than Amelia. Even that, Lina could ignore easily enough. No, what really got to her was the fact that the blond bimbo had crashed out of nowhere and through the table she was eating on, ruining the only meal she had in days!

To make matters worse, the blond couldn't pay for it! No gold meant no money. No money meant no food. No food meant one VERY cranky Lina.

"So... Miss Mihoshi." Filia, bless her Draconic heart, was kind, enough to let Lina and her friends spend some time at her shop, eating the food she had available. "You said that a "Miss Washu" had made a machine that transported you here?"

"Mmm! This is good meat! I wish that Sasami could get a recipe like this. Yum!" Mihoshi grinned, before comprehending the question. "Yep! Miss Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe, created a neat device that said we could look and go into other universes. I think she just wanted to show it off, and I pushed a few buttons by accident and somehow ended up crashing through Miss Lina's table, making a mess, and if I had any gold, I'd gladly pay for making you miss that meal. After all, meal time is very important. If you don't eat, you could easily pass out and if you do that, then bad men could do all sorts of mean and terrible things to you."

The others sweat-dropped as Mihoshi babbled on. That was probably the only reason that Lina hadn't blown her up yet. Only someone truly innocent would talk like that.

"Yes, yes, I get it." Xellos grinned cheerfully. "Now, you should know that you don't need to pay Lina back."

"I don't?"

"She doesn't?"

"Why, of course not!" Xellos took a sip of his tea. "Lina Inverse is known for being quite generous and forgiving. Plus she just loves to share."

Lina twitched, her hands clenching and unclenching spontaneously. "Xell...oooosss..."

"OH! In that case, I'll help myself to Miss Lina's share of the food!" Mihoshi grinned and reached across the table for Lina's food.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Lina yelled, reaching for her food to get it back.

Amelia sweat-dropped and leaned over to Zelgadis, who was sipping some tea. "Should we stop this?"

"Why? This is the best entertainment I've had in months."

"Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia gasped, shocked. That seemed so unlike the chimera that she had grown to know and enjoy being around.

"Just relax, Amelia." Gourry smiled next to her. "If Lina was really angry, she'd start casting a fireball right now."

"Yep. I don't think Xellos is going to show up for some time after this is over... And I do feel kind of sorry for any bandits nearby." Zelgadis muttered, mostly to himself.

Amelia looked between the two men quickly before sighing. "Looks like I can't win this one."

"But... Mr. Xellos said that you love to share!" Mihoshi whined as Lina took back her food with a vengeance.

"He was lying!" Lina gritted out in-between bites.

"But... If he's a liar..." Her eyes lit up. "Then he MUST be a criminal!" She stood up and pointed at the purple-haired Mazoku dramatically. "Halt in the name of the law!"

"Um..." Xellos rubbed his finger against his cheek. "Do you even have authority around here? This isn't your universe, you know."

Mihoshi blinked and sat down. "Well, that's true, I suppose."

"But that shouldn't matter!" Amelia yelled as she got to her feet and posed. "A true ally of justice battles evil no matter where it lays!"

"But... Isn't that just vigilantism?"

"Huh?"

"Vigilantism. It means taking the law into your own hands as a civilian." Xellos "helpfully" explained. "While vigilantes do catch criminals, they themselves are criminals."

"You know, Amelia, a lot of the things you do seem like this vigalism...thing." Gourry commented.

"Who's side are you on?"

"In that case, YOU are a criminal!" Mihoshi yelled as she stood up, pointing an accusing finger at Amelia.

"WHAAAAA?" Amelia couldn't believe that she was being accused of being a criminal. Why, after all she had done for love and justice and THIS was how she was getting repaid?

"Miss Lina! You don't believe it, do you?" Surely her best friend in the whole world wouldn't think that she was some sort of crazed criminal, would she?

"Well, you do tend to push your ideals of what's just and right onto others, Amelia. Then there was that time you teamed up with those mercenaries to try and arrest Gourry and me..."

"But..." Amelia was close to tears now. "We had just met, and I barely knew you..."

"Yeah, I know..." Lina cleared her throat and looked at Mihoshi. "Look, Mihoshi. Can't you just let Amelia off with a warning? She has helped save the world a few times."

"What? Well, in that case I can't arrest her. After all, the galaxy police will, within reason, look the other way for minor crimes if the person in question has done something most heroic."

"But, she tried to kill me, surely that isn't something a law-abiding officer like you would let go is it?" Xellos grinned.

"One moment... Xellos!" Filia had finally had enough before she flipped up her skirt, pulled out her huge mace and uppercutted Xellos through the ceiling and into the next country.

"Hmm... Filia-chan seems to be upset... Really, a black thong just doesn't suit her." Xellos nodded to himself as he soared through the air. Neither the attack, nor the landing was going to hurt him, but he felt it would be better if they saw him flying off into the distance. He mentally decided to wait for a couple of weeks to see Lina again. She'd be liable to blast him with a few black magic spells to let off steam otherwise. Oh sure, he could handle it, but it would still hurt.

X x x x x x x x

"So... Just WHY is Mihoshi all tied up, Miss Washu?"

"Ahem!"

"Sorry, Washu-chan."

"Muuuch better!" The scientist preened for a moment. "The fact is, Mihoshi here can't be trusted to do anything right."

"You surprised by that?" Ryoko snorted.

"Not really, though I never knew that she could cause someone to go crazy and create a blast on par with an anti-matter explosion."

"EH?"

"Well, you see...

*Flashback...*

Washu blinked as the portal opened, there was a smoking crater in the middle of a clearing, a few pieces of lumber that may have, at one point, been a building, a few people covered in soot and Mihoshi in the middle, crying in front of a small redhead.

"GAH! Not another one!" The redhead yelled as she turned to Washu. "Just my luck. First this bimbo and now someone who looks like me! I can't take it anymore! FIREBALL!"

Washu blinked as a ball of flame erupted from the girl's fingertips and bounced harmlessly off her shield. "Well, usually people have that reaction AFTER they get to know me. You're the first to attack me without warning though."

"Washu-chan!" Mihoshi yelled as she ran up to the scientist. "Make Miss Lina stop!"

"Stop? Stop? Oh ho! You just HAD to keep singing didn't you? And you called me a monster!"

"But... You blew up Filia's house!"

"That's besides the point! Dil BRAND!"

"EEEK!"

Washu sweat-dropped as Mihoshi was blasted sky high. The girl was really tough, partly due to her alien DNA and partly due to what the Galaxy Police did to people who joined up with them. "Listen... Lina, was it?"

"Yeah?"

"Look, I'll just take her out of your hair." Washu grinned and pointed behind her. "Besides, you have a REALLY big pet to take care of."

"Eh? I don't have a... pet..." Lina paled as she saw a VERY angry Golden Dragon glaring down at her. "Eh heh heh heh... Filia... We can talk this out..."

"You're right, Lina... We can... But right now... I need to vent! So get over here!" She screamed while blasting at the sorceress.

"YIKE!"

Washu sweat-dropped as she watched the dragon blast at a retreating Lina. "Well, in retrospect... This is all Mihoshi's fault." She turned to the blond who was getting up. "And just what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Um... Sorry?"

*End Flashback*

"So I decided that it would be better for everyone if I just left Mihoshi all tied up." Washu finished.

**X X X X X X **

"Well it's about time that we get back. It's close to bedtime." Sheila said shifting a baby in her arms that was doing his best to squirm out of his mother's arms. "Gaja's about ready to start pulling out fur."

"Always fussy before bed." His counterpart added and held on to his daughter. "Isn't that right Sariph?" He poked the small girl in the stomach with a finger and she giggled.

"Not Tiffany, she's always a perfect little angel." Brittany cooed holding her own child. Ranma was somewhat weirded out by the young baby. Occasionally her eyes would move to someone else, but she seemed the most interested in him, like she could see things around him that weren't visible to anyone else with those blue eyes.

"It is getting late." Nodoka agreed from her spot watching the children with muted excitement, like all the small children in the room were overloading her desire to spoil, and she couldn't decide which to start with.

"Mom do you mind holding Sariph for a minute?" Ranma asked and he didn't have to ask twice. "I need to talk with you again." Pulled off to the side again he wondered if they could spar again, something to test out his new limitations and strengths. Even though he may have doubts over spending all his time practicing the art. He was still excited over the prospect of testing himself.

"Don't fight you two, we'll be leaving in a minute, and I don't want to start handing out kapowies." Sheila chided. "I am NOT in the mood."

"We won't." His counterpart replied as they headed out the front of the house.

"So?" He asked his werejaguar self, who glanced back inside for a moment.

"Brianna."

"Huh? What about her?"

"Brianna's a good friend of mine, she spends nearly as much time with us on Jade as she does here with her sisters here on Earth. But before that－ I sorta set something up that blew up in her face. What I wanted to say was that it seems like she has her eye on you. If you do something that hurts her, I'll show you exactly how much I was holding back during our spar."

"I don't get it." Cocking his head to the side he looked quizzically down at his shorter counterpart. 'Wow this is weird being able to look down on pretty much everyone. No wonder Rin always likes to get on my head and shoulders. Hmm where is she anyways?' After a brief moment of scanning, he wasn't about to let her eat the rest of Gina's lab, he found her off exploring with the peebo scouts in the backyard.

"If you hurt Brianna, I hurt you."

"Oh－ alright."

"Well." His counterpart held out a hand. "I guess this is it for now, but if you're still around tomorrow you can come stay with us on Jade till you're able to get back. You can meet those two slackers I gotta get in shape and it's a major trip going to a place where dragons and tons of magical creatures are everyday stuff. I'd ask you to come with tonight so we could get another good spar in tomorrow morning but they'd take it as an insult if you didn't stay."

"Sounds fun." Taking the smaller hand of his werejaguar self he thought about that. A place where weird was normal? What a strange thought.

"Uh oh." The others ears perked up as if hearing something he couldn't.

"What is it?"

"One of the kids just had an accident."

"How can you tell?"

"Jagwere hearing, most werecats excel in one area, us hearing, tigers smell, lions strength, and cheetahs speed."

"So you hear really well?"

"That's putting it mildly." They couldn't really talk further before the people in the house moved outside the house. "Well if you want to take up my offer just ask Gina to light gate you over."

"Sure if I'm still around." He ignored the comment about a light gate, fearing a long winded scientific explanation

"Good we didn't have to separate you two again." Sheila said handing off both children to Ranma. "There that usually keeps you out of trouble." Done with that she patted her hands and addressed him. "It was nice meeting you." The small jaguar girl smiled at him. "Sorry that you got turned into a werecheetah but if it's any consolation you're really handsome."

The other Ranma bemoaned dramatically. "Did you hear that kids you're mother is going to leave me for me! The shame! Oh what a world!"

"Quiet you." Sheila hissed, fuming for a moment, and then immediately switching to a bright smile. "If you need a place to stay our home is your home."

"Thanks." He bowed his head slightly, both in thanks and so that he was looking down at her better. When first meeting Sheila he had been, well stunned by how beautiful she was as a human. But seeing her interact with this universes' Ranma had hammered home quickly that even if he wanted to get to know her better, she was very much off limits.

"I'm disappointed in you." Nabiki said, taking her turn to say goodbye. "Seriously? Turning into a werecheetah? That was your big show? And here I thought craziness followed Ranma wherever he went, guess he's just special." The girl huffed and then settled into a neutral expression. "But I can't very well hold that against you. So see ya later Hakubi." Bowing her politely, the small girl sauntered off to stand next to his counterpart and Sheila.

"Okay." He said slowly before noticing a wet eyed Nodoka who with great speed latched on to him squeezing him around the waist tightly. Almost as quickly she disengaged and straighted her kimono trying to act like she hadn't done anything.

"If you don't say good bye to me when you leave, I'm going to be very upset." She explained in a deceptively calm voice.

"Right." he answered and she went over to stand with his counterpart, Sheila, and Nabiki. All the but last waved and in a loud bang and flash of light they were gone. "Is it supposed to be that loud?"

"You get used to it." Brittany answered as the three sisters made their way back into the house. "Gonna spend all night outside? We gotta get you up to speed on Star Wars, the one thing I agree with my nerdy sisters about."

"Sure I guess." He answered and was about to head in to see what was so important about Star Wars when Rin-ohki suddenly came screaming over their connection that something was happening.

Pinpointing her location, he teleported next to her, and he watched worriedly as she stood up on her toes making a horrific snarling noise. Rapidly communicating through the link he calmed down slightly when Rin said that this was supposed to happen in order for her to take her ship form.

Jumping upwards, Rin-ohki flew higher until she was thirty meters above the ground before curling into a ball. Watching transfixed on the sight and remembering Ryo-ohki's change into a space ship, she suddenly exploded outwards in crystalline protrusions in a seemingly painful display. In the span of a few seconds, Rin-ohki suddenly gained a tremendous amount of mass and assumed her ship form.

Rin-ohki's high pitched whine had drawn the attention of those in the house who once again moved outside, this time far faster, to see what was going on. Not paying any attention to them, he stared up at his partners ship form. Hovering above the Diggers' home was a ship that heavily resembled Ryo-ohki. Unlike Ryo-ohki the four pointed protrusions ringing her main dome, these were curved drastically upwards forming a claw shape. At the tip of the claws was a single black ring that floated without touching them.

"What is that!" Gina asked gaping.

"Rin-ohki." He answered and didn't try to hide the pride from slinking its way into his voice. Washu had said it would take several months before she could take a ship form. 'Another thing to surprise dear ol Mom with.'

"I think we're going to get a few more complaints from the neighbors." Thropan added.

"You mean that little rabbit thing actually turned into that?" Stryyp boggled.

"She isn't like a gob who eats until it can reproduce, she actually stored up all of that mass from my lab. Collecting the electronics and material and then rearranging it into this configuration." Gina was grinning, astonished over realizing what had gone on. His eyes unfocused for a moment as Rin-ohki gave him some information.

"She's not sure how long she can hold this form but she wants to try flying somewhere. Um, anyone interested in a trip?"

"I'll." Gina started before Brittany grabbed her and dragged her back into the house. "Hey! Let me go Brit!"

"No you will not take a trip in the first time space ship, no matter how bright and shiny you think it looks, because this has crash and burn written all over it." Brittany explained calmly and the two husbands agreed.

"Well I guess that just leaves me." Brianna said with her hands clasped behind her back and smiling.

"You sure sis?" Brittany asked.

"First passenger on a space ships maiden voyage? Puhlease. Sides I got a power armor in hyperspace that I can call up if anything goes wrong."

"Alright." Shrugging he moved over and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Hang on."Brianna blushed lightly but didn't hesitate to grab him around his. Pulling her along he teleported into Rin-ohki and hovered over the floor for a moment before dropping down to the deck.

"Wow, what a trip, lemme just－ let the room stop spinning." Standing unsteadily on her feet, Brianna put a hand against him to steady herself.

"Sorry, forgot the first time can be disorientating."

"I'm fine, feels kinda like light gating somewhere." Recovered, Brianna started to look around and examine the room they were in. The floor was a dark blue color and extended from wall to wall. Overhead was a huge transparent dome, it's view obscured only by the prominent spires extending from the sides of the ship. Hovering in the air around them in a circle were large pale blue tetragonal crystals. Other than that it was empty, except he knew that she could form control devices and other things if the need arose.

"So where do we go?" He asked Brianna still overwhelmed by being inside Rin-ohki. An idea struck him though and he looked skywards through the large dome. Sensing his idea, Rin-ohki suddenly shot straight up at great speed. Both of them were driven to the floor from the sudden g-forces. Gritting his teeth from the force, Rin-ohki slowed to a stop and the crushing force abated.

"Oooooh." Brianna moaned while getting to her feet. "Give a girl some warning next time."

"Miyah!" Rin-ohki's voice echoed through the interior.

"Yea probably should have turned on inertial dampeners before doing that, whatever they are." Pausing as Rin-ohki sent him some information. "Oh so they stop the inertia of your movement outside from affecting us inside."

"So where are we?" Brianna asked staring upwards at the star field spinning slowly to reveal the curvature of the Earth. "No way." The girl breathed and he nodded, just as awed by the sight.

"Miyah." One of the floating crystals displayed the image of a very smug looking cabbit.

"I've been in space before but it－ no preparation, no space suits, that wasn't even ten seconds and we exited the Earth's atmosphere." Brianna said with her voice full of wonder. Not to say he wasn't unnerved by the speed at which Rin-ohki had moved them, but Ryo-ohki had done a similar thing before.

"I guess this is better than staring up at the stars." He laughed.

"Ya think?" Brianna started to laugh with him. Laying down on to his back, so he didn't have to crane his neck upwards, Brianna soon sat down nearby.

"Ack." They both flailed a bit when something rose up underneath them. Recovering himself quickly he found that it was a simplified couch with a blue cushion and dark blue solid back. It continued to rise up and then tilted backwards. "Thanks Rin." He told the crystal face of his partner.

"Thank you Rin, and thank you." Brianna said to him.

"Me? For what?"

"For letting me see this." Brianna was giving him a strange sort of smile. "Ya know." Sliding closer, he wondered what she meant. "This is probably one of the most romantic things I can think of."

"Wha-what?" He stammered and wringed his new tail nervously while looking into the girls green eyes.

"Sorry it's just－." Brianna shifted away and pulled into herself. "I get to watch everybody find love－ but all I do is scare people away."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"I'm lonely." She said sadly and looked at him with tear filled eyes. "Gina has Thropan, Cheetah has Stryyp, Sheila has you, Gar has Luan and Carla, Dad has Mom. I know they don't try to, but it feels like they're rubbing it in my faces at every turn."

Frowning he didn't think that was true. Then again he had only been here a short time and didn't really know how anyone acted when someone strange landed in their lap.

"MMMFF!" Brianna had taken advantage of his distraction and kissed him on the lips. Waving his arms at a speed approaching the sound barrier, the blonde leaned in and wrapped her arms around his neck. Before he could comprehend or deal with the idea of being kissed something equally strange happened.

Almost in sync they both sagged into their clothes, Brianna pulled away and he could see that she had become far shorter. Along with the change in height she had changed to look almost like a werecheetah except with human ears and the vertical slash running through her right eye, rather than the left.

"Hey I'm human again." He said looking down at himself, happy that he wasn't tall and furry anymore.

"I forgot about this, it happened the last time I was out in space and near the moon." Brianna explained and moved away slightly. "You look good as a blond."

"Huh?" Bringing up a hand he pulled down his bangs and saw that he was indeed blond in both forms now. "Ah man." He groaned before fully realizing that Brianna had changed shape too. "But why did you change?"

"I'm half werecheetah, but I can't change at will, in fact when we move away from the moon I'll change back automatically." Adjusting her clothes slightly, Brianna slowly developed a lidded gaze. "So where were we?"

"Bri-Bri-Brianna." Stuttering again he moved away and fell off the floating furniture. "Ouch." Rubbing the back of his head that had hurt more than it should have. Pouting he found the girl giggling down at him.

"Sorry, I guess I fell back into old habits." Sighing, she fell back on to the cushion. Blinking several times, he teleported himself up to sit next to her. Chewing on his lip he wondered what was up with the girl. Since arriving she had gone from friendly, to sad, to overly friendly, and variations there of. Which left them sitting in silence with nothing but the soft hum of Rin-ohki's systems around them.

"What's wrong?" He asked finding the silence uncomfortable. Brianna's face scrunched up into concentration.

"Ryoga." She said simply. "He left me."

"You were－ with Ryoga?" He asked slowly, finding the idea rather strange.

"For a while, it's why I know Japanese so well, I stayed there and travel slash lived with him for a couple months. One day he got lost I didn't think anything of it, he got lost all the time, and I found out that he was seeing someone else, some sumo pig trainer." Hugging herself, she started to cry again.

"I gave everything I had to him, I wanted to have what everyone else had, and he gave me up. Said he wanted to be with someone who could like his pig form." Her breath hitched several times before continuing. "It turned out he had been seeing her from the beginning and he still had a thing for Akane. He really was just a pig."

If he was the type inclined to go get vengeance on people, he'd probably be shouting 'Ryoga prepare to die!'

Somewhere a certain pig-boy had such a violent sneezing fit that he barely survived.

"Can we stay here－ just like this－ for a while?" Brianna asked sliding over to sit next to him. Nodding he couldn't find a reason to deny her request. And he didn't mind when she leaned against him as they watched the Sun, Earth, Moon, and stars circle slowly overhead.

**X X X X X X **

"Alright, so now we know why Mihoshi was tied up, how are we going to get back, and find Ranma?" Tenchi asked, ignoring a sniffling Mihoshi. Not because he wanted to be mean, she just wouldn't stop.

"Easy." Washu chirped happily and walked over to stand next to a wall mounted red button behind a rectangular piece of glass. "With this."

"What's that?" Ayeka asked.

"The recall button." The diminutive redhead answered as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. The entire group stared at her flatly, even Mihoshi stopped crying to give Washu a strange look.

"And what does this recall button do?" Ryoko chimed in.

"It recalls everyone that the machine isolated in order to transport through dimensional walls, to a point exactly five minutes after we left." There was much staring and no talking that followed this pronouncement.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THIS SOONER?" Ayeka and Ryoko yelled in sync with enough force that Washu's hair was blown backwards.

"Well I forgot about it." Washu answered and smoothed down her hair. "And I had to fix it the first time anyways. Before you even ask, it's five minutes after we left because reality needs a buffer period to stabilize, which takes exactly five minutes to occur." Waving off their concern, she flipped the glass up and let her finger rest on the button. "You may want to sit down for this."

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

Mihoshi flashback in Slayers land was written by Nanya. Ranma and Ranma's spar was done by Drakuzz and revised by me.

Why did Ranma become a werecheetah? Washu will explain the how's sometime, and it's not for the reason Theo came to. BTW I foreshadowed this way back in chapter ten (see the author notes). Personally I don't care if it's overdone, I can't be responsible for every idiot out there who sees GD and goes OMG I MUST MAKE RANMA A WERECHEETAH!

(1) – I am aware that real cheetahs are rather－ meek, in the kinds of sounds they make.

(2) - GD history time, if Iceron, the original maker of lycanthropes, was not able to cure himself before he became a wererat which took 1 year, what hope does Dr. Diggers have to do so? And before anyone gets on me about some silly true lycanthropy rules or some such nonsense that a few GD crosses have. That just doesn't seem to exist. Once again, back to Iceron who was infected by a wererat, he became a full wererat, only he was a slave to Sherisha. No weird rules or weaknesses. (While saying this I am aware that most GD crosses occured before these events came to light.)

(3) – Gobs are magical creatures with insatiable appetites that appear in the GD – 18 halloween special. While being friendly towards living beings, showing their affection by licking, anything nonliving is at risk of being eaten.

(4) – See Gold digger volume 2 issue 37

(5) – Do not underestimate the ability of a cabbit to be cute.


	17. No Need for Royalty

**X X X X X X**

"Speech"

'Thought'

#panda sign#

(Telepathy)

Phew no more having to worry about keeping track of languages. A smaller chapter, but I liked where I ended it.

**X X X X X X**

Kamiki Seto Jurai was not a happy woman. At her age she had seen many things, done many things, and currently enjoyed the station as the driving force behind all big decisions in the Jurai Empire. Even among her peers she had aged remarkably well, looking for all the world as if she was barely out of her 30's. It was a tremendous ego boost to know that she was still considered a beauty at her age of over 10,000 years old.

Standing alone in the command deck of her treeship Mikagami, she kept her face calm and impassive as a large screen displayed the face of someone she, and everyone else, had thought long dead. That being the face of her grandson Kagato. The man's face was a match for his fathers and his older brother Yosho's. But his dark green hair, sickly pale face, and cruel eyes were the opposite of his brother and father.

"Grandmother, I hope you have been well." Her grandson's voice was as eloquent as ever, something that had captured the hearts of many women before his true nature had come forth.

"I have." She answered evenly.

"I know that I have been, missing, for some time. But I hope that we can leave any unpleasantness behind us."

Her face was a mask of calm resolve as she listened but inside she was screaming. "I suppose that depends on what you are planning."

"Planning? Grandmother whatever would make you think I'm planning something?" She wanted to sneer at his acting. "I am but a prince who has come back home. I expect nothing more than what my station entitles. I have already convinced Father that I am ready to assume the throne. With your great political power I am worried that you might appose my coronation."

"And you would be right to think I would."

"But you and I both know you will not." Kagato's face spread into a smile.

"What would stop me?"

"It seems you've become predictable in your golden years. It is like a cooling breeze of nostalgia. But you should understand that if you move to stop me, then certain information will be brought to light."

"What are you talking about."

"Why Grandmother, recordings of you conspiring with my father and mother to have my dear brother Yosho kill me." Kagato's smile increased greatly at her grimace. "Even with your political power you would not be kept from the gallows when the universe at large found out that you committed treason. But do not fret Grandmother, for I have no desire to prematurely leak such information."

"And what if I were to release the information on you? How you became a monster who perverted the power of Jurai for your own selfish pleasures of death and destruction. How you killed off entire worlds to slate your blood lust. Do you think you would be made king then?"

"You seem to have collected a fair amount of children, haven't you Grandmother."

"Why do you dodge the question?"

"Simple, do you think I was idle all these years? I know where each and everyone of them are. Should such information as you just mentioned become public knowledge. Well, let us just say that you will find yourself very lonely."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"On the contrary Grandmother, their lives are meaningless to me. But so long as you remain unopposed to my coronation then no harm come to them."

"Bastard." She spat.

"I care not for comments on my parentage. Especially by one who knows better. All I wish to know, is if you will abide by my request?"

"You'll have my silence, but how long do you think you'll be allowed to keep the throne? Do you think that the nobles will allow a monster like you to be the king of Jurai?"

"We shall see won't we?" The screen blipped out of existence leaving her staring off into the vast expanse of stars.

Collapsing into the plush red cushion that was her command chair she slammed a fist down on the arm rest. "Bastard." Shaking with fury she tried to calm herself down.

'This is terrible, how could Yosho lie about Kagato's death? Didn't he know the danger? Why now? Why did he wait so long to come forward once again? Yosho's failure and disappearance with Ryoko means I stand alone here. Blast that coward Azusa, he always was more interested in leaving the throne than he was to hold it. But I cannot allow Kagato to be crowned king. Something must be done, but I am now forced to use indirect measures.'

Signaling to get the attention of one of her subordinates she resolved herself to the gamble.

"Get me a secure communication to Masaki Airi at the Galaxy Police, NOW!"

"Ye ye ye yes Seto-sama."

**X X X X X X**

Washu waited patiently for the world to finish coming back together around them. There was no way to speed up the process. Reality had to be given time to work things out on its own, otherwise strange things could occur. Minor anomalies mostly, like a table moving suddenly three meters to the left, or objects changing places. The multiple views of her lab merged into one and without any fan fare they were all back.

'Whoops we appear to be missing Ranma-chan.' Doing a second head count confirmed her original. Ignoring the rest of the group, she went over to the control panel and started to scan the data to find out why.

'Isolated transport target subject number Six and Seven not found at original destination, searching... searching...' Narrowing her eyes she pondered what that could mean.

Ranma and Rin-ohki hadn't been in the transporter when Ryoko had restarted it. Which meant there was no reason why he and his partner would have been moved again. Even more disturbing was that the controller didn't know, and the controller was designed to know. Even just being on the same city as the spherical controller, caused it to note you in the log. A rapid beeping interrupted the concern of losing her child to the multiverse.

'Target Six and Seven found, recalling now...' Breathing out a sigh of relief she waited for the vague outline that would indicate the location where they would assume form. The space ship outline that destroyed two walls and the ceiling, along with several more rooms in the complex, was not what she was expecting.

The group shielded themselves as best they could from the falling debris, and not feeling like playing doctor at the moment, she formed a barrier above everyone but Ryoko, who could take care of herself.

As soon as the ship fully materialized it popped out of existence to return to cabbit form. Rin-ohki came into existence in front of her, swaying unsteadily back and forth till she fell flat on her face. At the same time, two unconcious forms shimmered into view just to the side.

One she identified as her son wearing extremely baggy dark red clothing, his hair drew her eye next, having changed to dirty blond. The other body was a very tall female, with bright blonde hair, a black stripe extending over her left eye, and cat ears like Ranma.

"And here I thought I was through with this dimensional mess." She slapped her forehead just before more crashing was heard from where the bulk of Rin-ohki's ship form had been briefly. "My lab!" She cried.

**X X X X X X**

"Okay thank you, have a good night, yes, you too." Washu ushered the last of the household members from her lab and shut the door. Choosing to lock it to avoid any more mishaps with ditzy blondes, royalty, and her dear little Ryoko. Briefly dusting off her hands, she strolled over to the prone bodies in her lab entrance. Arrayed on a pair of futons were Ranma and a mystery woman, as well as a single cushion which contained both cabbits, Ryo-ohki deciding to sleep next to her sister.

Hopping up to her mid air cushion she brought up her laptop and started to rapidly load up a program to scan the pair. Now that she was alone she could get some work done without being hounded endlessly with questions.

"Huh, Washu?" Ranma's voice stopped her typing and she realized that he had woken up. 'Oops.' Looking around for a moment, his eyes stopped on the woman, and then came back to her. "Please tell me I didn't wake up in another dimension again."

"You didn't wake up in another dimension." She answered playfully and he gave her a dark look. "You're still angry with me aren't you?"

"Angry? Why would I be angry? I just don't trust you." His green eyes caught the sleeping cabbits and he relaxed. Taken back by his comment, she didn't immediately respond, instead she moved to open her private files.

"Ranma, there's something that I should have told you, but we all got taken up by outside events."

"And what's that?"

"You'll have to come here and see." Standing off her cushion she held out her hands, indicating she wanted him to take a seat. There was a brief moment where he looked like he wasn't going to take up the offer. But he stood on unsteady feet and sat down. Smiling she reached over to the computers keyboard, and hit the return key.

On the screen a video started to play, in it she was handcuffed, and standing in the middle of a dark room. The only light was a single overhead that shined down illuminating Washu. In front of her a large screen displayed the image of an elderly blond man with dark tan skin and blue eyes. Next to the display was another, only this one was just a silhouette.

**X X X X X X **

"Hakubi Washu, we ask you again, where have you hidden Jurai royal property?" The blond man demanded.

"Property? Sorry I haven't touched anyones property." Washu answered, feigning ignorance. "Could you refresh my memory?"

"Do not mock us Washu." The darkened out man warned, sounding far younger than the blond.

"They are the property of no one."

"We are aware that you have been subverting your mandate from the onset. That is not in question here. What we need to know is where you have sent the two test subjects. Or do you not realize that you face high treason for your actions?" The blond explained and shuffled some papers on screen.

"Since when have the consequences stopped me?"

"If you will not tell us then we will be forced to carry out your sentence. In light of your impressive contributions to the galaxy, as well as possible future inventions, we would much rather have your cooperation."

"And you won't get it." Washu interrupted.

"Very well, we have no choice but to exile you in a containment cage, set adrift in space, you will never be recovered." The blacked out man announced and his display cut out.

"Is this really what you want? Do you really want to sacrifice yourself and everything you worked for?" The blond asked, his elderly face softening.

"I allowed someone to be taken from me once before, I've ensured that it won't happen again." Washu shifted on her feet but did not look up at the display.

"I see－ goodbye." The screen died, leaving Washu alone in the dark room. Beneath the red head a pedestal rose up through the floor. Four arms, equally distanced from each other, shot upwards and pale green barriers flickered into view between each. Boxed in, Washu looked around fearfully before the barriers turned into an opaque black, obscuring her from view.

**X X X X X X**

"What－ what was that?" Ranma asked after the video stopped.

"It's all I could find of my sentencing." Washu answered. "I really wanted to find something from when you and Ryoko were little but－ the Galaxy Police were rather thorough in their purge of all information pertaining to you two. Not that there was a large amount, Dr. Clay was able to figure out that you were never put into stasis and reported me quickly."

"And this is supposed to make me trust you or something? I don't even know what was going on." He tried not to sound angry but he was. Was Washu trying to make fun of him or something?

"Ranma, that report you found was a fake. As soon as I had seen that something had gone wrong, and that you were both fully sentient beings, there was no way I could take that away." Washu grabbed one of the ground based red cushions and sat down. He noticed that she looked very old all of a sudden, even through her childish exterior. "I should have explained things right away. But－, I don't know."

"I'm listening." He said after a moment, his view of Washu having done a one eighty. After reading that report he had gone from trusting to distrusting. How was he supposed to listen to her knowing that she would have destroyed him and Ryoko to create weapons? Who was to say that she wouldn't pick up where she had left off now that she was freed?

"There's really not much more to tell." The diminutive scientists demeanor instantly became more cheerful. "You and Ryoko were supposed to land on this planet, a friend in the Galaxy Police even programmed my prison to cross this planet's orbit. And well, the best laid plans." Washu shrugged. "Something got messed up, a decimal point in the wrong place, an extra zero, there are so many variables that could have been off. Ryoko crash at the right time but in the wrong place, I got to the right place but was locked inside, and you got here late. As far as I'm concerned the issue is just a bad memory, and I would like to focus on the here and now."

"I gotta think about this." Looking away, he found Ryo-ohki curled up next to Rin-ohki, looking like a pair of adorable pets. "What about them? Were they supposed to be weapons? Super cute little space ships of destruction?"

"I'm not proud of it but yes. Their companion forms were designed specifically to be unassuming."

"Rin won't become some monster will she?" He asked worriedly. "Some hidden thing that kicks in later?"

"No, they are children, the only way she or Ryo-ohki could become monsters is if their parents were."

"Just like me and Ryoko." He noted and Washu smiled proudly. "Right?"

"My Ranma-chan is finally starting to use his brain." Washu gushed. "But since I answered your questions, can you do something for me? Just a itsy bitsy tiny weeny little favor?"

"I um guess."

"Tell me why your hair and eye color changed."

"Um－-." He paused wondering if he should tell her that he was a werecheetah now.

"That's alright I guess, time is the one thing we have a lot of." Washu waved it off and hopped to her feet. "But honestly, this has been a long day, and I would like to get some sleep."

"What do you mean day? I've been gone for like five."

"For you yes, for Tenchi-dono and Ryoko it was a single day, and for Ayeka-dono and Sasami-chan it's been a few weeks. Don't worry about it, I'll send your _friend_ back tomorrow morning." There was something suggestive to Washu's smile as she walked away and opened up a doorway before passing through it. Behind her the door closed and then faded from view.

"Miyah?" Ryo-ohki hopped up into his lap.

"Hey Ryo-ohki." Bring up a hand he scratched the cabbit behind an ear. "How've you been?" Ryoko's cabbit started to explain how his sister got into a fight with some girls wearing really short skirts. Then as an after thought she asked how he could actually understand her. "A translation spell."

"Miyah?"

"Heh, yea it's pretty cool."

"Miyah－ miyahmiyah."

"What have we been doing? Well first we woke up on a street in Nerima."

**X X X X X X**

Brianna's first thought upon waking was wondering who was responsible for the splitting migraine she felt. Literally it felt like someone had bashed her brains out with a brick, possibly solid gold. The next was questioning where she was? Taking a moment to check under the covers to see if she was clothed, she sat up and clutched the cover to her chest protectively, and looked around.

Near her feet was Ranma, sleeping soundly on a similar futon, and next to her on the left were a pair of sleeping cabbits curled up against each other. Not lingering long on the cute display she checked out the strange forest that was spread out around her. Some large pipes and other mechanical items were visible from the ceiling and the floor was some kind of hardwood. Not counting the large red carpet that she was on.

Tapping several buttons on her wrist watch, she prepared to call up some kind of battle armor, defensive in this case. Well as defensive as her weapons platforms got. Except the display that popped up showed her inventory empty. Not just lacking what she wanted, but actually empty, there was nothing on the list. For a brief moment she panicked, feeling very vulnerable all of a sudden, there wasn't a time she could remember being without.

Taking several deep breaths, she calmed down, if anything should happen she could improvise. Judging by the accommodations, she was not at the mercy of some evil genius, and wouldn't need anything. Crawling over she lightly shook Ranma by the shoulder.

"Hey, Ranma wake up." The boy rolled away from her.

"Lemme alone Pops it's too early." He groaned.

"Do I sound anything like that panda?" She asked, slightly insulted that anyone would mistake her with that waste of a human being.

"No." Ranma said carefully and rolled back over to look at her. "What time is it?"

"How should I know? I don't even know where I am." Rolling her eyes, she would have to tap into the local satellite network in order to synchronize her watch with, since the time display had been off.

"Haha, right." Sitting up Ranma had to pull out the string tying his hair back out and redo it, as it had gotten tangled during the night.

"So, where are we?" She asked hoping to find out just why her hyperspace storage space was inaccessible.

"My mom's lab."

"This is a lab? So I'm in your reality?" Ranma nodded. "It looks more like some kind of park."

"This is just like the main entrance, it goes other places."

"I'll have to give Gina some tips, I like the whole garden aesthetic, really livens up the place." A wooden clattering alerted her to a free standing door opening up in front of her. A short girl with blue green hair done up in a pair of long pigtails peeked her head in. On her apron was a large carrot motif.

"Ranma-niichan, breakfast will be ready soon." She announced happily.

"Hey Sasami." Ranma answered and the girl's pink eyes found her.

"Oh, your friend is up." Entering into the room, the door closed and vanished behind her. "I'm Masaki Sasami Jurai, it's nice to meet you." The girl greeted and bowed her head politely.

"Hello, I'm Brianna Diggers." Inclining her head forward she tried to be polite.

"Will you be joining us for breakfast?"

"If it's not too much trouble."

"It's no trouble at all." Sasami smiled brightly at her. "Hurry or Ryoko-neechan might steal it all." Waving the girl ran off through the door that reappeared.

"We should probably hurry." Ranma floated up to his feet.

Deciding that food might be the best course of action, followed shortly by reestablishing her connection to her hyperspace storage, she rose to her feet and stretched. "Lead the way." Following him over to where the door had appeared, and once again as if sensing someones presence it faded into view. "So what kind of magic is this anyways? The door I mean."

"You'll have to ask－ my mom." Ranma hesitated at the last two words, a strange little smile spreading over his face, before he opened the door. Behind it was nothing, just a flat layer of black. Stepping to the side she inspected it, finding it to be completely flat, there was no depth to it. "Just step through." Now Ranma's smile was more devious. "Unless you're scared."

"Ooh, is that a challenge?" Ducking down, since the door was only about six feet tall, she stepped through, and then found herself immediately stepping out into a hallway. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced to the right and left. Sniffing, her nose was assaulted by the wonderful smell of someone cooking, and knowing how to do it. Stryyp was a hell of a cook, but his menu was rather limited to tuna, and as much as she loved the fish, it did get old.

"That was different." She commented and noted that there wasn't the brief feeling of disorientation that accompanied the use of a light gate. No this was like she had simply walked through a doorway into another room. 'Gina's gonna throw a fit when I tell her about this thing.'

"This way." Ranma passed her by and headed to the left. Following, she had to once again duck down to pass through a door. 'Forgot what a pain houses not designed for a werecheetah are to move around in.'

Brianna was surprised at the size of the two story living room she found herself in. Her time spent in Japan gave her the impression that a normal apartment for multiple people would have fit inside this one room. Glancing out one of the glass walls, she found that they were in some kind of valley with a large lake just outside. Everywhere a thin layer of snow coated the ground and more was slowly falling.

"Tenchi!" A girl with long swept back cyan hair begged plaintively, drawing her attention to a small group of people sitting around a table. "Ayeka's being so mean!"

'Wow, it's sonic the hedgehog.' She thought, believing this to be Ranma's sister, unless floating was a common trait in this reality.

"How dare you involve Tenchi-sama in this－ this－ this UGH I don't even have a name for what you're trying to do you monster woman!" Another with purple hair in more of a helmet style but with two long tails coming from the back spoke. (1)

"Ah ah, what's all the commotion this morning?" Along with the normal group of people, she looked to what she assumed was the kitchen entrance, and saw an elderly man wearing priest clothing. "I smelled something delicious and wanted to investigate." His eyes twinkled with amusement and scanned over to her. "And who is this lovely young lady?" Now all eyes swung back to her.

"Hello, I'm Brianna Diggers, it's nice to meet you." She greeted trying to be polite. There was a round of polite greetings from the assembled group. Well the cyan haired one wasn't all that polite compared to the others.

"Would you like to join us for breakfast Diggers-san?" Tenchi asked once they were all introduced.

"Thank you." Taking a seat, Ranma dropped down next to her.

"My you're tall, what species are you?" For several seconds she looked at a short girl with long red hair and green eyes that had appeared a few inches in front of her face, before crying out and scrambling away. "No need to worry my dear, I am Washu-chan, the greatest scientist in the universe! Although maybe I should add the multiverse now that my machine has gone through it's beta phase."

"Washu-sama please don't scare her." Ayeka admonished.

"Chan, Washu-chan." The red head corrected crossly.

"Wait a minute, you created the machine that sent Ranma to my reality?" Washu nodded. "But that would mean－ you're Ranma's mother?" But that was impossible, this girl was only ten or twelve years old max.

"That I did, and if you're wondering I can send you back anytime you wish."

"Anytime?" She asked hoping to just clarify that. Alternate realities and times she had deal with back when fighting the time traveling dog, Dr. Peachbody, but if she was guaranteed a way back it would take a large load off her mind. Nearly as big as the fact that she didn't have any armor or weapons available.

"Yup, the relative time and position are recorded so it'll be like you were never gone."

"So your machine goes through both time and dimensions." Pursing her lips she was trying to wrap her mind over something that powerful being created by the girl in front of her. Gina was better at raw calculations, even with her limited abilities in that regard, the power required must be staggering.

"We'll talk later, but food first."

**X X X X X X**

"Awwwww." Sighing happily, Ranma floated on his back in swimming pool sized bath. A pair of cabbits happily paddling around and chatting with each other animatedly. Somewhere on the far side of the pool a small waterfall was falling, and all the white noise was making him want to find a nice spot to nap.

Which felt wrong, after going through an incredible adventure, he felt like he should do something. No doubt tonight or tomorrow, the stories of where and what they had done would start to come out. That thought brought out another question. What did he want to do about Brianna? The half werecheetah confused the hell out of him.

What would happen when she went back? Did he want her to go back? Throwing up his arms, he submerged himself, swimming towards the deeper end of the pool. Now that he thought about it, he should have realized back at the beach how he didn't feel the need for air. Unlike back at Jusenkyo when after a single moment he had been desperate for air.

**X X X X X X**

'Vacation time.' Brianna thought after talking with Washu, the scary little girl, who apparently was Ranma's mother. Both her and Gina could be scary when it came to something they liked, even Brittany's obsession with tuna was beyond normal people. But that little girl put Gina to shame. 'At least she's willing to send me back shortly after leaving, though till then, I am at the mercy of a mad scientist.'

'A scary smart mad scientist.' She was already trying to work out the mechanics around subspace, which was apparently at the core of the entire lab. Existing on some other plane of reality, separate but connected to the current. Did she mention that it was something like five planets large? 'And it was nice of her to offer me some materials to create some power armor and weapons. I feel so naked without five or six weapons platforms waiting in hyperspace.'

Pausing as she exited the lab and into the house in normal space, she turned around and inspected the door. Such a simple unassuming thing, and it could easily be used to move all over the world and even the solar system so long as you had another positioned on the other side. 'This at least explains how Rin-ohki can have that ship form. All that mass is called forth from subspace. Hmm, that gives me a few ideas for mass shifting armor and weapons.'

"Excuse me, Brianna-san." Ayeka interrupted her thoughts on missile ideas.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to use the bath?" The purple haired girl asked pleasantly and Brianna's eye twitched subtly realizing this was a subtle hint that she wasn't smelling all that great. Wasn't her fault that she had to go Jetta's house yesterday and missed her shower.

"Sure."

"Excellent, it'll also give us a chance to get to know one another, this way please." The girl smiled pleasantly and Brianna remembered the whole communal bath thing.

Following behind Ayeka up to the second floor, she stopped only briefly at a doorway that shouldn't actually lead anywhere, before opening it to show that it was another subspace door. Ayeka entered and she followed, the mystery over them now gone, and found herself inside a huge Roman or Greek styled bathing area, she couldn't decide which.

"Wow, you guys really know how to live." Secluded lake front house in the mountains, these subspace areas making it even bigger, and who knew what else?

"I suppose compared to anything on Earth this home and Washu-sama's improvements would seem impressive." The girl said and headed over to a wash area. "Though it is a vast improvement over the home that was here before."

"Before?" She asked, taking her cue from Ayeka who was disrobing to do so herself.

"Yes, Mihoshi-san crashed her shuttle and destroyed it, shortly before we had to deal with that dreadful reality fiasco. I'm just happy that Tenchi-sama has an abode closer to the standards of a Jurai noble."

"You guys are royalty?" She asked as they took seats on stools and started to clean. Brianna frowned at how small everything was for her. Back in Atlanta, everything was custom made with Brittany in mind, here she felt like a giant. Or at least more of a giant than she was.

"Oh yes, Sasami, Tenchi, and I are all royalty of the Jurai empire. The strongest in the universe." Brianna could literally hear the snob come from the girl.

"That's nice, my big sister married the prince of an entire race, so you're not the only royalty." She sniped back.

"What race would that be? Perhaps they exist here as well."

"Kryn."

"I can't say I have ever heard of them, but the next time I am in contact with my father, the Emperor I'll inform him that he should consider diplomatic ties with them."

"I'm sure they would appreciate it." Mentally she gagged, finding talking with the girl to be a chore.

"I know that you've only been here a brief time and will be going home soon. But I need to warn you about that devil in human guise called Ryoko."

"Ranma's sister?"

"If that monster could be called a sibling of anyone."

"She seemed alright to me." Idly she noted that this was really good shampoo.

"She is also responsible for the deaths of an untold number of people and the near destruction of Jurai. Whole worlds have fell to her over her years of crime."

"I'll take my chances." Now she knew what was going on. A royal power play, Ayeka wanted her to be on her side. Too bad she'd make her own decisions.

"If that is your wish." Ayeka was finished washing and held a towel demurely in front of herself to cover her privates.

"Free will is something I hold very dear." Standing she would have done the same but the towel simply wasn't big enough. The two cabbits that ran up to them slid to a stop before looking up at them happily. "And what are you doing here?" She asked and bent down to pet Rin-ohki. A splash of water and a gasp of air alerted them to someone in the water. Looking, they found Ranma staring with wide eyes at the pair of them.

Her first reaction was the thought that he should be just a bit more out of the water, 'No bad libido!' She quickly squashed that line of thinking. Ayeka's reaction was not on the same wavelength, the purple haired noble screamed. Ranma's reaction was to cover his eyes, eep, and teleport away.

**X X X X X X **

'I don't think that this was supposed to be a mixed bath.' Ranma thought, sitting cross legged underneath the water, in the deepest part of the pool. He wasn't stupid enough to hang around and try and explain things to an angry Ayeka. Her gut reaction seemed to be call up her floating logs and zap whoever got her that angry, usually his sister. He would talk to her later after she had calmed down.

Floating rather than swimming he sped through the water and into the wall. Grabbing his clothes and escaping was the immediate concern. Sticking his head out of the floor he scanned around quickly to see if anyone was in the changing area. Forming his battle suit, he rose up from the floor and grabbed his clothes and a towel before quickly changing into them. Another teleport got him to the door, and he was out of it before anyone could see.

Toweling off his hair, phasing got rid of the excess water, but any that had soaked in remained. Leaving his hair wet and skin damp. 'Meh it's better than wet fur.' Fading into view in the rafters of the living room, he found Ryoko sitting in the same position that she had done before the house was wrecked. She was also watching Tenchi down below like a hawk.

"What's up with you?" He asked and Ryoko finally noticed him.

"Nice hair." Ryoko smirked and shifted position to look at him. "So you're trying to be a Kuramitsu now?"

"Huh? What's Mihoshi got to do with blond hair?"

"All her family looks the same and they own those losers the Galaxy Police. So if you go off and get a tan I'm going to have to disown you."

"Yea because being the brother of some super criminal is all that better. I might just disown you for being a monster woman." He meant it as a joke, even trying to mimic Ayeka with her usual way of say 'monster woman.' Ryoko didn't seem to take it as one, her eyes widening before narrowing into dangerous little slits. A moment later she had vanished.

"What's her problem?" He asked no one in particular.

"Ranma-niichan!" Sasami called up from the floor. "Phone call for you." (2)

"Uh, I gotta go do something, tell them I'll call em back."

"Okay." Sasami replied as he teleported in the general direction that Ryoko had went. He couldn't actually see anything that would indicate a direction. But he could feel the disturbance caused by Ryoko's parting and which way it went.

Up at the shrine, he took a moment to look around before heading off towards the cave where Ryoko had been imprisoned. He didn't really have a reason to start there but he had seen his sibling there before, so it was as good a place as any to start. Floating a short distance off the ground to avoid making a noise, and because he didn't have anything on his feet. He had trudged bare foot through snow with Genma before, and he was not looking to repeat it.

Coming to a halt at the edge, he did indeed find Ryoko at the cave, she was sitting on the steps up to the mouth, staring at her left wrist. 'Guess I'm turning into Ranko.' Sighing, he moved across the field to sit in the air in front of Ryoko.

"What do you want?" Ryoko asked gruffly.

"I don't think you're a monster woman alright."

"What makes you think I care about what you think?" The cyan haired girl asked angrily, the gem at her wrist glowing in response to the rise of emotion. "I'm Ryoko, the most feared space pirate in all the universe! Why would I ever care what some little boy who grew up on some backwater planet thought of me?" Floating up into the air the self proclaimed space pirate glared down at him.

He blinked several times, the girls gold eyes boring into him, and the gem glowing like a flashlight. "Well alright then." Spinning he moved away and gave a negligent wave of his hand. "Have fun sitting in the cold."

Ryoko appeared before him with a finger pointed in his chest. "Now listen here you nosy little cat boy." She advanced, pushing her finger into his chest to push him backwards. "I'll have you know that－ that－ uh." Ryoko trailed off. "I forgot what I was going to say." She said sheepishly.

"I'm gonna have to ask Mom if you're really related to me." He sighed and put his face in the palm of his right hand. "Listen I don't care what you did or why. But it was weird, when I was trapped in those strange realities, I kinda missed you." Moving his hand to the back of his head he played with his ponytail nervously.

"You missed me?" Ryoko looked shocked and stared at him.

"Well－ yea, I mean you are my sister in some weird way, even with how annoying you are sometimes." Nervously looking away, he hoped she felt the same way, since he had grown attached the idea of family past Genma.

Ryoko just stared at him, lost with how to respond before spinning around and floating a short distance away. Just as suddenly she swung back around and looked at him hopefully. "Do you think Tenchi missed me?" He frowned, here he was trying to be nice to her, and all she could do was ask about Tenchi?

"I don't know, ask him." Shrugging he tried not to show his irritation. The cold was starting to get to him, he hadn't really dressed for the weather, even if it didn't feel as cold as it looked. "Why do you come here anyways? I thought you'd hate this place."

"Here?" Ryoko looked unsure of herself. "It's nothing." She said quickly and turned to cross her arms.

"Guess you won't mind if I head inside then." Teleporting past her to the stone steps, his feet touched the cold stone only for a second before he was up in the air once again.

"Hey! Stay out of there." Ryoko appeared in front of him and blocked the way.

"Something you don't want me to see?" He suggested and peered around the space pirate.

"And what do we have here?" They both jumped at the elderly voice the spoke behind him. "If you want Ryoko, I believe my ancestor left instructions on how to seal you back up if needed." Katsuhito teased with his hands behind his back.

"You just try it old man and I'll kill you like I'll kill that Yosho when I find him." Ryoko growled and rose up to try and be imposing. "I'm letting you off without a beating cause you just got screwed over by being related to the guy but don't push your luck."

"I'm sure you would." Katsuhito continued to smile absently and turned to him. "Ranma if you wouldn't mind, please clear the snow off the steps."

"Sure I can do that." The priest nodded to him and gave Ryoko a sly look.

"Well have a good day." Waving the priest headed off through the bamboo trees.

"Guess I should get started." Floating off he was going to go get something warm to wear. "Have fun playing in your cave." He waved to Ryoko before flying away purposely, ignoring her angry retort.

**X X X X X X**

"So what did Washu give you?" Ranma asked Brianna, the tall blonde sitting crosslegged on the floor and tinkering with some kind of long cylinder. Strewn around her, were dozens of other pieces of metal, some fabric, and strange things he had no word for.

He assumed that Washu had also given Brianna some clothes, the displaced clone now sitting in a pair of blue jeans, and a red tshirt. 'I really wish she'd cover up a just a bit more.' He gulped, keeping his eyes up.

"Just a little of this and that." She answered, swinging the silver cylinder, and letting it fall against her shoulder like a bazooka. "Purely for self defense." She said with a mischievous grin.

"Is that a gun?" He asked.

"I said for defense." Brianna scoffed, putting the tube down on the floor.

"Defense from what?"

"Ya know, I don't actually know. I mean, it's not like I'll be going on any archaeological digs while I'm here. But! It pays to be prepared."

"Miyah?" Rin-ohki asked, sniffing at a piece of metal.

"Don't even think about it." He chastised the cabbit, reaching down to pick her up. "You want anything?" He asked Brianna. "I'm going to grab her a couple carrots." The cabbit's reaction was to jump from his hands, up to his neck, and affectionately rub her head against him.

"Some water please." Brianna replied without looking up from her work.

"Right." Stepping through the closed door and into the kitchen, and bumped into Sasami who was going in the opposite direction carrying drinks. The effect, one wet and female Ranma, and Rin-ohki licking some of the water from her cheek, the cabbit having hid behind her head.

"Ranma-neechan I'm sorry!" Sasami gathered up the fallen plastic cups in an instant, and handed her the hand towel in the next.

"It's alright." She answered, wiping some liquid from her face.

Ding-dong

"Visitors?" Sasami asked.

"I'll get it, if you get Brianna wanted some water." She told the girl, dropping off Rin-ohki to spend time with Ryo-ohki.

"Sure." Sasami headed off for the sink, and he teleported to the base of the steps.

The bell rang again, and he groaned. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Throwing the towel over his shoulder, he slid the door open.

"Sasami-chan!" A tall woman yelled, gathering him up in a bone crushing hug before she could respond. "Sasami-chan! I've missed you so! Oh Sasami-chan!" The woman shook her around like a rag doll.

"Lemme go!" She cried out, hearing her ribs strain, as all the air was forcibly pushed from her lungs.

"Sasami-chan!" The woman cried even harder, repeating Sasami's name. "Why have you dyed your hair? It was so beautiful before!"

"Imouto-chan, I don't think that is Sasami-chan." Another woman spoke calmly from the doorway.

"Really?" The woman asked, releasing Ranma to slump to her knees.

"Oi oi, what's with the yelling?" Ryoko asked, stepping through the wall. "Who are they?" The cyan haired woman asked.

"I don't know, she just grabbed." She couldn't finish, her face having painfully been planted in the wall, the mystery woman having knocked her to the side in a mad dash towards Ryoko.

"Sasami-chan!" The woman yelled again, grabbing Ryoko now, and repeating her earlier act. As Ryoko was being shook around, Ranma got to her feet unsteadily.

"Are you alright miss?" The calm woman asked.

"Yea, just fine." She answered and finally got a chance to look at their visitors.

The calm one turned out to be a tall stately woman, with long black hair gathered in two tails from the sides of her head hanging to her hips, and the back reaching down nearly to the floor. Her clothing instantly reminded Ranma of Ayeka's, with bright colors, wide bands, and contrasting colors. Draped over her shoulders and reaching down to her knees was a sky blue cloak. The front of the cloak was split so to show off a pink kimono underneath. On the woman's forehead was a single large green dot.

"I'm sorry for the rude introduction, I am Masaki Funaho Jurai, and the woman currently assaulting that other girl is my co-wife, Masaki Misaki Jurai." Funaho explained calmly. "Um Imouto-chan, I really don't think that is Sasami-chan either."

"Really?" Misaki pulled away from the dazed Ryoko.

Ranma took a second to check out the other woman, and found that she had bright blue hair like Sasami's, gathered up in a high ponytail that trailed all the way down to her feet. Her cloak was a close match to Funaho's, though the colors were in far darker shades of green. Underneath, instead of a kimono, was a burgundy shirt and off white pants.

"Is something the matter?" Sasami asked, stepping out from the kitchen with her carrot apron on. "Ah! Okaasama!"

Misaki turned back to look at Funaho, who nodded, and then threw Ryoko face first into the wall. Running up to Sasami, Misaki gathered her up in a far more gentle hug. "Sasami-chan!"

"Did she plan that?" Ranma asked, pointing to the two hugging females, and having to smile at Ryoko who was slowly sliding down the wall.

"I'm not always sure with Misaki." Funaho answered with a small unreadable smile on her face.

"Wait a minute, you said Masaki, and Jurai? You're from Jurai?" She asked Funaho.

"Yes we are." The woman answered sadly. "If you would be so kind to gather the rest of the home, we have urgent news."

"Just a sec." She teleported to Sasami's side, the girl still being hugged by Misaki. "You know these two?" She asked.

"Yup, this is Mother Misaki, and that's Mother Funaho." Sasami was able to answer.

"Alright, guess I'll go get Tenchi." She made another teleport up to the shrine. Sasami may have trusted everyone, but she never called anyone Mother. Appearing at the shrine, she found Katsuhito in his living quarters, sipping at a cup of tea.

"Ah Ranma, are you back for more work to do?" The old priest asked.

"Nah, I'm looking for Tenchi, do you know where he is?" She asked.

"He was heading home, you likely just missed him. Anything I can do?"

"No, but there are some ladies from Jurai who say they have urgent news, and Sasami even says that they're her mothers."

"Mother?" Katsuhito gasped.

"Yea, one was real huggy and had blue hair, and the other had black and was real, I don't know, royal like. Ya know, if you had said to me a month ago, I would have wondered about how someone could have two mothers."

"Would you mind taking me to the house?" The priest asked seriously. "I think I would like to meet these ladies."

"Sure, I guess." Grabbing the old man's wrist, she teleported them both down to the bottom of the steps. "I'm getting pretty good at that." She commented, and then noticed that Katsuhito was ignoring her, purposely striding towards the house. "What's up with him?"

"Ranma, what's going on?" Tenchi asked, finishing his descent down the stairs.

"Sasami and Ayeka's moms just showed up." She answered with a shrug before heading off for the house herself.

"Oh uh Ranma, why did your hair and eye color change again?" Tenchi asked nervously.

"Eh? Well." Scratching at the back of her head, she wondered if she should tell him about the werecheetah thing. Brittany had explained how to do the changing back and forth thing, but she had also said that it might happen accidentally until Ranma had gotten used to it. Something she really didn't want to do, as far as she was concerned, she would remain out of hybrid form as much as possible.

"It's just another curse I picked up, yea that's it." Laughing several times, she hoped he would buy it, since it was basically true.

"It looks good on you." Tenchi whispered, almost too low for her to hear.

"Huh? It does?" She asked absently, pulling a lock of blonde hair in front of her. "I was just getting used to red." She whined.

"You could dye it." Tenchi suggested tentatively.

"Why would I do something girly like that?" She asked, turning to Tenchi and putting her hand on her hips. "Hair's hair, I'll just have to get used to it."

"Right right." Tenchi waved his hands in warding.

"Man, you're so jumpy, come on let's go find out what's up."

**X X X X X X**

Washu sat with her arms crossed, listening to the two former Queens of Jurai as they elaborated on the recent events that had transpired on the capital. She was not very amiable to the position they now found themselves in. Gathered in the living room with the rest of the household, they waited for the two to finish.

"Kagato has taken over as the Emperor of Jurai." Funaho explained. "He used an old stipulation, that since your father Azusa had already forfeited his place on the throne, which he did seven hundred years ago shortly before Ryoko attacked Jurai, in preparation for Yosho to take the throne. Since there was no one in line for the throne, and Yosho didn't return, he was acting as steward in Yosho's stead. Only the top most level of Jurai's royalty knew of this, the general populace simply assumed that Azusa had never vacated."

"Kagato's first act, was to banish Asuza, as well as us. He knew that he couldn't have us executed, so this was the only way for him to eliminate us as political threats."

"You've been banished?" Sasami asked from where Misaki was cuddling with her.

"That is not the only thing we came to tell you." Misaki pulled away from Sasami enough to talk. "Kagato has no such restriction with you, and he's ordered that you be brought in for treason, so that you can be executed."

"But that's ridiculous! Why would or Oniisama want us dead?" Ayeka asked in shock. "Up until now, we didn't even know that he was alive."

"Because of Tenchi-dono." Funaho answered. "As a descendant of Yosho, he, or someone along the line closer to Yosho, is the rightful heir to the throne. Should he marry either Ayeka or Sasami, then he would become Emperor. Even though Kagato has taken over the throne through a technicality, he would have to give up his position should that happen."

"Well that sucks for you Ayeka." Ryoko flickered into view next to Tenchi, having taken a spot in the rafters. "But Tenchi's mine, and Emperor of your stupid empire or no, I aint sharing with you."

"You stupid monster woman! This is bigger than you and your ego!" Ayeka screeched, trying to pull Tenchi away from Ryoko.

"Bigger? All you Jurai big wigs have done is drag poor Tenchi into your political game. I say good riddance."

"Ryoko." Washu commanded, stopping her psuedo-daughter from continuing. "Don't be so short sighted."

"Washu-dono, thank you." Funaho bowed her head slightly. "We humbly ask that you help our daughters."

"You shouldn't thank me." She answered, seeing Funaho smile slightly. "Because I'm not going to help them because you asked. I'll help them because they're important to my children."

"We thought that you might feel that way." Funaho said sadly.

"Jurai and the GP tried to erase me, and stole the research I developed over nineteen thousand years of work. I couldn't care less about what goes on in your family." Standing up, she attempted to leave.

"Unfortunately, Kagato has also declared you, Ryoko, and Ranma to be guilty of treason against the Emperor." Misaki's comment stopped her. "No one in this household is safe, save Mihoshi-chan. Kagato could not add her to the list, seeing that her Grandfather is the Grand Marshall of the Galaxy Police."

"And－ how did he find out about us?" She asked, feeling a cold hand grip her heart. As far as Kagato should know, Ranma was lost in space along with her, and Ryoko died fighting Yosho.

"Mihoshi's report to the Galaxy Police was intercepted by one of Jurai's spies." Funaho answered.

"My report?" Mihoshi asked innocently. "Oh that report." She realized and hung her head.

"We are truly sorry to bring such terrible news, but we must be going. The Galaxy Police will be arriving in several of this planets hours. I recommend that you take the opportunity to disappear." Funaho stood up. "We'll take Ayeka, Sasami, and anyone else who wants to go with us."

"You're just going to run away?" Ranma asked. "You aren't going to try and stop this Kagato guy at all?"

"He has too much support among lesser nobles. Asuza represented the old regime, and in a society as long lived as Jurai's, change like this only comes once in a millennia. They've seized upon this opportunity for personal gain." Funaho answered Ranma.

"Running away now would only give Kagato's regime credibility." Katsuhito interrupted, the old priest sitting calmly next to Brianna. "If as you say, Tenchi is the true heir, then it needs to be brought to the normal citizens attention. Surely Kagato would lose his support should the common people know of what he's done."

"Kagato has been planning this coup d'etat for a long time. When he first appeared before Azusa and I in the throne room, forces under his employ, had already secured the palace. Since he has already has the backing of the Galaxy Police, his next move, if he hasn't done so already, will be to take over the news sources."

Washu tuned out Funaho, an incessant thought repetition from Ryoko distracting her. The cyan haired member of her strange family, was repeating just one thought. 'Kagato has found me.' Washu didn't have to read her child's memory to know that it was Kagato who had been controlling Ryoko, initiating the attack on Jurai. The secretive nature of the project, the raw power that was to be created, and the absolute control mechanism. Kagato had tricked her into creating the perfect race of soldiers to enforce his will upon the universe.

'He'll pay for what he's done.' She thought darkly. "Brianna-dono, let me send you back home so you don't get caught up in all of this." She gestured for the exceptionally tall girl to follow her.

"Are you kidding?" The blond scoffed. "I was wondering when the fireworks would start up." The girl grew a decidedly manic grin. "Say you don't have any high explosives do you? Mercury fulminate, nitroglycerin, silver azide, sodium azide, or some copper acetylide? Maybe even something a bit more exotic?"

Grinning herself, Washu resisted the urge to glomp the girl. "I like you! I'll have to grab a few things from my lab. Although I'm very interested in just what Rin-ohki assimilated while in your reality."

"Washu-dono, are you seriously planning to fight?" Funaho asked.

"Well－- the way I see it, there are three choices. The first is that we wait here and are captured by the Galaxy Police, shortly there after we will be found guilty of high treason by Jurai, and executed. Not my idea of fun. The second is that we flee to some forgotten corner of the universe and hide. Obviously we could use my dimensional tuner to do the same job and make us unfollowable. Our final option, defeat Kagato, and clear up this mess once and for all." She explained.

"Agreed." Katsuhito nodded sagely. "Proving our innocence is paramount. If it takes committing the very crime that we are accused of, then that is what we must do. But we cannot allow such an individual as this Kagato, to remain as the leader of such a powerful empire."

"Are you all in agreement?" Funaho asked. "Do you realize what you will have to do, in order just to reach Jurai? This is committing suicide."

"Jurai threw me away to rot in space once." She spoke, crossing her arms. "I don't see how choosing it this time would any better. Of course this all depends on what Tenchi-dono wants to do." At her mention of his name, the young Prince sat up a little straighter.

"Well, if it's as you say, then I don't see much of a choice. I say we go to Jurai." The pigtailed boy answered.

"Ryoko?" Washu asked, unsure on how the former space pirate would decide to act.

"I couldn't care less about Jurai's opinion, but if they're trying to hurt my Tenchi, then I'm going to finish them off this time." The cyan haired girl answered. "Sides, without me you couldn't do it anyways."

"Ranma?"

"Me? Well I'll help out, not sure what I can do though." The blond girl answered.

"Don't sell yourself short, you and Rin-ohki should be able to fight on equal footing with a second generation tree ship. Which reminds me, Tenchi-dono, would you mind giving Ranma one of the gems?"

"Hey! I want my gems back." Ryoko demanded, getting in her face.

"They're not just yours, and it's about time that he got what he was supposed to have." She answered, unconcerned with Ryoko's glare.

"Sasami-chan, you don't want to go do you?" Misaki asked the pink eyed girl.

"Uh huh, if I don't go, no one will get food." Sasami answered with a smile.

"Food?" Misaki asked, turning to look at Ayeka. "You still can't cook Ayeka-chan?" In response, Ayeka looked away nervously.

"There will be ships following ours." Funaho drew everyone's attention. "Seeing that we came here, Kagato will assume that we took you with us. If they show up to arrest you, and no one is here, that will only confirm it."

"So we'll have a head start." She summarized. "You'll play the part of the decoy. I suppose the plan is coming together, though we do have one loose end." Washu turned to look at the confused Kuramitsu. "Mihoshi-dono, we'll need you to try and persuade your grandfather to go against Kagato, can you do that?"

"Kagato sounds like a very bad man." Mihoshi answered. "Detective first class Mihoshi is on the case!" She exclaimed, standing up and saluting Washu.

"Oh my little girls going off on an adventure!" Misaki suddenly yelled, pulling Ayeka and Sasami into a hug.

"And how about you little ones?" Washu asked, bending down to look at the pair of cabbits, who were digesting the conversation. "Do you want to help?" Her answer was miyah in stereo. "So we have a pair of ships to get there. Might I recommend that everyone gathers essentials for the journey?"

Watching the rest of the household, minus Katsuhito, disperse to get their belongings. 'Hopefully just the bare essentials.' Washu thought, imagining the large amount of luggage Ayeka might drag along with her. Washu's beyond impressive mind started to go to work on how they might accomplish their mission.

"Washu-dono." Funaho broke her concentration. "You realize the peril they have been put in, don't you? This isn't some misguided attempt at revenge is it?"

"If it is, I'm blinded to it." She replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there are things I need to retrieve from my lab."

**X X X X X X**

Author Notes:

(1) – While Ayeka maybe following back into old habits, two months is really nothing to her, and she really didn't gain any maturity from her time spent in feudal Japan.

(2) – Nodoka calling to ask his opinion on things before she went to the Tendo's.

－－－－－－－－－-

A Very Invasive Omake by Tyron23

－-

"So, where are we?" She asked hoping to find out just why her hyperspace storage space was inaccessible.

"My mom's lab."

"This is a lab? So I'm in your reality?" Ranma nodded. "It looks more like some kind of park."

"This is just like the main entrance, it goes other places."

Brianna thought for a bit about something.

"So Ranma you're an alien right?" She asked looking over at the boy sitting on the other bed.

"Uhh yeah." He responded not quite sure where she was going with this.

"And since we're in your mom's lab and she's an alien too that means I was abducted by aliens."

"Well I don't think she meant for this to happen but yeah." Ranma said before getting a bit panicky. "Don't worry though my mom's the greatest scientific genius in the universe she'll have you back home in no time!" He waved his arms around trying calm her down.

"Well this is my first time being abducted by aliens. I was kinda wondering when you were going to get around to probing me." Brianna said with a leer on her face.

".."

"Of course if you want I don't mind anal probing or maybe a little probing on top or some missionary probing. I promise to cooperate fully. Feel free to probe me as many times as you need to!"

"In fact let's get the probing started right away!" She giggled as she tackled him off the bed onto the floor.


End file.
